4.4 Social Media Contagion in Adolescents

Social media engagement is an aspect of everyday routine for most adolescents. While many youth support, educate, and inspire one another through social media, digital platforms can also serve as vehicles for the promotion of misleading ideas and unhealthy behaviors. This presentation will focus specifically on the ways in which social media interactions may induce contagion effects and copycat risk behaviors in vulnerable youth. Following this talk, the audience will be able to: 1) understand how types of social media–related contagion impact mental health; 2) appreciate how social media platforms create a unique environment for contagion to spread; and 3) recognize and manage social media–related contagion in the clinical setting.