Identity, social media and self-esteem Is my child ready for social media? Does your child keep asking to use social media? The pressures of growing ...

• Beacon
• For parents

Adolescent girls appear more vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties from social media use than boys. The presence of sexualized images online is thought to contribute, through increasing body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2022
• June 2022

This research explored adults' perceptions of how sexualized images typically found on social media might influence adolescent girls' mental health, what support girls might need should they experience mental health difficulties, and how such difficulties could be prevented or reduced. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• January 2023

Social media may play a role in the "contagion" mechanism thought to underpin suicide clusters. Our pilot case-control study presented a novel methodological approach to examining whether Facebook activity following cluster and non-cluster suicides differed. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• December 2021

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions of sexualized images they typically find when using social media. Twenty-four participants aged 14–17 years described sexualized images of females as normalized on social media. The interplay between gendered and social norms that endorsed and rewarded girls for posting sexualized images was seen to influence an expectation for girls to conform with their peers and post such images of themselves. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• April 2023

There is a need for effective and youth-friendly approaches to suicide prevention, and social media presents a unique opportunity to reach young people. Although there is some evidence to support the delivery of population-wide suicide prevention campaigns, little is known about their capacity to change behaviour, particularly among young people and in the context of social media. Even less is known about the safety and feasibility of using social media for the purpose of suicide prevention. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• June 2021

Otitis media is a common childhood illness associated with hearing loss, social disadvantage and medical costs. Prevalence and severity are high among... ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2009
• November 2009

Young people are more likely to be affected by suicide contagion, and there are concerns about the role social media plays in the development and maintenance of suicide clusters or in facilitating imitative suicidal behavior. However, social media also presents an opportunity to provide real-time and age-appropriate suicide prevention information, which could be an important component of suicide postvention activities. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• May 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen evidence and advice evolve quickly. Since the start of the pandemic there has been confusion and concern about breastfeeding and COVID-19, and advice for this group has at times been contradictory. The volume of information on social media has exacerbated this. This study aimed to understand breastfeeding-related COVID-19 information sharing on social media during the global and Australian vaccine roll-out. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• April 2023

Friending and Grouping Most social media sites or apps connect you with other users by friending or following. Within the larger group of your ...

• Cyber Leaders
• Building your knowledge
• Cybersafe practices