Geir Scott Brunborg

Background: Research on social media and adolescent mental health has largely focused on overall time spent on social media, which can obscure the distinct effects of specific aspects of social media use. This study examined the relative importance of five aspects of social media use for symptoms of five common mental disorders among adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional data were drawn from the PULS study, a school-based survey of 4,011 Norwegian adolescents (mean age 14 years; 50.5% boys) recruited from 21 lower secondary schools in South-Eastern Norway in autumn 2025. Social media use was assessed with the short-form Social Media Use Scale, which has five subscales: Hostility from others, social comparison, passing time, seeking support, and hostility towards others. Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and major depressive disorder (MDD) were measured with validated scales from the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview version 2 Youth Self-Report Questionnaire (12–18 years). Dominance analysis was used to determine the relative importance of each social media aspect, with analyses conducted separately by sex. Results: Social comparison was the strongest predictor across all five symptom domains. It accounted for approximately 20–26% of variance in symptoms of internalizing conditions (GAD, SAD, MDD) and 6–9% in symptoms of externalizing conditions (ADHD, ODD) for both boys and girls. Experiencing hostility from others was the second most important predictor, explaining 3–6% of variance across outcomes. Showing hostility towards others was moderately associated with symptoms of ODD (8–11% of variance) but weakly associated with symptoms of internalizing conditions. Passing time and seeking support on social media showed negligible independent associations with the symptom groups. Conclusions: Not all aspects of social media use are equally relevant to adolescent mental health. Social comparison and exposure to hostility from others show the strongest associations with mental health symptoms, particularly internalizing conditions. Should future research confirm causal relationships, interventions may be more effective when targeting specific social media features rather than restricting overall use alone.

Background: Even though mental health problems and alcohol use remain major challenges facing adolescents, our understanding of their developmental progressions primarily stems from cohorts coming of age in the early 2000’s. We aimed to examine and describe normative developmental trajectories of depression, conduct problems, and alcohol use across adolescent years among more recent cohorts of Norwegian youth born in the 21st century. Methods: Multilevel mixed linear models for symptoms of depression and conduct disorder, and multilevel mixed logistic models for depressive disorder, conduct problems, any alcohol use, and risky drinking, were estimated with longitudinal data from a nationwide sample N = 3436 (55% girls) of Norwegian adolescents (mean age 14.3 [SD = 0.85] in 2017). We compared models with linear, quadratic, and cubic change with age, and models that tested moderation by sex and centrality (rural vs. urban communities). Results: Average symptoms and the rate of depressive disorder increased sharply from age 13 to age 19, but both the initial levels and the rates of change were greater for girls than for boys. Average symptoms of conduct disorder and the rate of conduct problems increased in early adolescence and were greater for boys than girls. The rates of any alcohol use and risky drinking both increased sharply from age 14, but there were no notable sex differences either in the initial levels or rates of change over time. Adolescents from more rural communities had greater rates of any drinking in mid-adolescence, but there were no other effects of centrality. Conclusions: This study provides a much-needed update concerning normative developmental trajectories of depression, conduct problems, and alcohol use among millennium cohorts. Consistent with prior studies, we observed significant increases in all outcomes across adolescence, with depression being both greater and more prevalent among girls and conduct problems being both greater and more prevalent among boys. Consistent with the emerging evidence, we observed no sex differences in alcohol use. Finally, there were no differences in the examined developmental trajectories as a function of centrality. These findings underscore the importance of early prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use problems.

Background: Whether the recent rise in adolescent self-reported depressive symptoms is influenced by changing reporting behavior is much debated. Most studies use observed sum scores to document trends but fail to assess whether their measures are invariant across time, a prerequisite for meaningful inferences about change. We examined whether measurement noninvariance, indicative of changing perceptions and reporting of symptoms, may influence the assessment of time trends in adolescent depressive symptoms.Methods: Data stem from the nationwide repeated cross-sectional Ungdata-surveys (2010–2019) of 560 712 responses from adolescents aged 13 to 19 years. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Kandel and Davies' six-item Depressive Mood Inventory. Using structural equation modeling, we examined measurement invariance across time, gender and age, and estimated the consequences of noninvariance on cross-cohort time trends.Results: Across most conditions, the instrument was found measurement invariant across time. The few noninvariant parameters detected had negligible impact on trend estimates. From 2014, latent mean depressive symptom scores increased among girls. For boys, a U shaped pattern was detected, whereby an initial decrease in symptoms was followed by an increase from 2016. Larger issues of noninvariance were found across age in girls and between genders.Conclusions: From a measurement perspective, the notion that changed reporting of symptoms has been an important driver of secular trends in depressive symptoms was not supported. Thus, other causes of these trends should be considered. However, noninvariance across age (in girls) and gender highlights that depressive symptoms are not necessarily perceived equivalently from early to late adolescence and across gender.

The current study examined personal barriers that can prevent early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals from reporting concerns of child maltreatment to child welfare services (CWS). The objectives were to identify different types of personal barriers and to examine differences in reporting according to employee characteristics. Norwegian ECEC professionals (N = 1369; 92% women; mean age, 44 years [SD = 11]) from 170 kindergartens completed e-questionnaires with 25 questions about personal barriers to reporting concerns of child maltreatment and questions about their own personal characteristics. Four barrier factors that underly the 25 different barriers were confirmed with factor analysis. The most endorsed personal barrier factor was “Negative consequences for the child,” which predicted barriers related to fear of negative consequences of reporting (e.g., to CWS). The second most important were the “Relationships” factor (barriers related to concerns about relationships with the child or parents), and the “Competence” factor (fear of misunderstanding and being unsure about guidelines). The least endorsed barrier factor (“Coworkers”) included fear of what superiors and coworkers might think. In general, ECEC professionals with less formal training and less work experience reported more personal barriers to reporting concerns of child maltreatment. The results are consistent with studies involving other professional groups. Better collaboration between ECEC providers and CWS is important to prevent child maltreatment. Future efforts to improve the detection and reporting of concerns of child maltreatment could consider focusing specifically on professionals with little formal training and little work experience.

Background: This systematic review aimed to identify effective methods to increase adolescents’ response to surveys about mental health and substance use, to improve the quality of survey information. Methods: We followed a protocol and searched for studies that compared different survey delivery modes to adolescents. Eligible studies reported response rates, mental health score variation per survey mode and participant variations in mental health scores. We searched CENTRAL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Scopus in May 2022, and conducted citation searches in June 2022. Two reviewers independently undertook study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessments. Following the assessment of heterogeneity, some studies were pooled using meta-analysis. Results: Fifteen studies were identified, reporting six comparisons related to survey methods and strategies. Results indicate that response rates do not differ between survey modes (e.g., web versus paper-and-pencil) delivered in classroom settings. However, web surveys may yield higher response rates outside classroom settings. The largest effects on response rates were achieved using unconditional monetary incentives and obtaining passive parental consent. Survey mode influenced mental health scores in certain comparisons. Conclusions: Despite the mixed quality of the studies, the low volume for some comparisons and the limit to studies in high income countries, several effective methods and strategies to improve adolescents’ response rates to mental health surveys were identified.