Annex 4: Informal meeting with the Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies
1)On Thursday 15 November 2018, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Professor Dame Sally Davies, met with the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, to discuss the CMO’s review of the evidence “around the relationship between social media use and the mental health of young people up to the age of 25”. The CMO noted that she had commissioned academics at University College, London to investigate the following research questions:
- RQ 1: Is there a prospective association between children and young people’s use of social media and mental health and psychosocial outcomes?
- RQ2: Is there a prospective association between cyberbullying via social media and mental health and psychosocial outcomes?
- RQ 3: What are children and young people’s views about the relationship between social media and mental health and psychosocial wellbeing?
2)At the time, out of 16,000 citations and 88 systematic reviews, 71 were deemed in scope, with 7 on problematic Internet use. The outcome of the review was not known at the time of the meeting. The CMO explained that the findings would influence what advice she could usefully provide. Possible age verification/age restrictions on children accessing social media were also discussed.
Published: 31 January 2019