Welcome to the Mental Health & Technology Resource Portal
Introduction
Technology is increasingly pervading every level of human existence, and no group is affected more profoundly than adolescents and young adults. Smartphones, social media, laptops, and tablets are not novel technologies, but they are becoming ever more prevalent within young people’s lives. While there are many positive aspects of technology for our young generation, there are also many negative effects as technology is being implemented at a rapid pace and with legitimate concern about the psychological effects (Liu et al., 2026; Okur et al., 2025).
The key areas of concern regarding technology and adolescent mental health include:
- Social media’s influence on anxiety and depression
- Screen time disrupting healthy sleep patterns
- Technology addiction and digital dependency
Why This Matters for Adolescents
Technology has the potential to have a significant impact on adolescent mental health because of the role that certain brain regions play in the developing adolescent brain. Regions responsible for impulse control, emotion regulation, and social information processing are still maturing during adolescence. The interactive nature of technology can exacerbate normal vulnerabilities associated with adolescent brain development by introducing social feedback, fostering comparison to unrealistic ideals, and reinforcing both adaptive and maladaptive behaviour through operant conditioning (Popat & Tarrant, 2023).
The worldwide increase in the following issues continues to grow:
- Anxiety and depression linked to social media use
- Sleep disruption caused by excessive screen time
- Digital dependency and technology addiction
Understanding the relationship between technology use and mental health is essential for developing strategies that promote digital wellness for future generations (Boer et al., 2021; Silva et al., 2026).