Social media misinformation linked to adolescent anxiety and confusion

Adolescents, whose neurocognitive development and social identity formation are still in flux, are uniquely susceptible to misinformation online. The study highlights how teenagers’ increasing dependency on digital media coincides with the development of cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and identity-driven information selection. The heightened emotional sensitivity and social validation needs typical of this developmental stage compound the problem, encouraging adolescents to share emotionally charged or sensational content without critical evaluation.

Digitally connected adolescents are now the primary casualties of a global information crisis, reveals a new study that maps the escalating threat posed by online misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, collectively termed information disorder, on adolescents worldwide. The study, titled “Information Disorder’s Impact on Adolescents: Publication Trends and Recommendations,” was published in Frontiers in Communication. Using a bibliometric analysis of 227 scholarly articles published between 2019 and 2024, researchers identified alarming trends in how digital falsehoods affect adolescent cognition, mental health, and social decision-making.

The findings mark a significant shift in global academic attention toward the vulnerabilities of adolescents in digital spaces, revealing not only a dramatic increase in research output but also major gaps in understanding the long-term consequences and cultural dimensions of exposure to deceptive information online. The United States led with the most publications, while countries like Spain, the UK, Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia also contributed meaningfully to the literature.

Why Are Adolescents Particularly Vulnerable to Information Disorder?

Adolescents, whose neurocognitive development and social identity formation are still in flux, are uniquely susceptible to misinformation online. The study highlights how teenagers’ increasing dependency on digital media coincides with the development of cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and identity-driven information selection. The heightened emotional sensitivity and social validation needs typical of this developmental stage compound the problem, encouraging adolescents to share emotionally charged or sensational content without critical evaluation.

Drawing on Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) and Media System Dependency Theory (MSD), the study emphasizes how adolescents often use social media for information-seeking, entertainment, and social connection, precisely the contexts where they are most likely to encounter false information. During periods of societal uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, MSD theory explains how reliance on media systems increases, creating a fertile environment for misinformation spread.

Keyword clusters revealed by the study show strong associations between “social media,” “misinformation,” “fake news,” and “mental health,” with platforms like TikTok flagged as significant vectors of disinformation aimed at youth. The emergence of these patterns is backed by empirical research showing how exposure to conflicting or false health information during the pandemic contributed to anxiety, cognitive overload, and increased vaccine hesitancy among adolescents.

How Has Research on Adolescent Information Disorder Evolved?

The global research community has shown growing interest in the issue, with publication rates increasing over 400% from 2019 to 2023. The bibliometric analysis segmented the field into three phases: an initial phase (2019–2020) of limited attention, a growth phase (2021–2022) accelerated by the pandemic, and a maturation phase in 2023 marked by more diverse and sophisticated studies.

Despite this progress, the analysis exposes critical weaknesses in the field. Longitudinal research exploring how persistent misinformation exposure affects adolescent development remains sparse. Most existing studies rely on cross-sectional surveys and self-reported data, which may not fully capture behavioural impacts or ecological validity.

The study also flags a disconnect between intervention research and psychological outcome studies. Clusters focused on media literacy and news literacy are rarely integrated with studies examining mental health consequences, such as increased anxiety or epistemic mistrust. As a result, interventions often lack the multidimensional approach needed to tackle the layered nature of information disorder’s psychological, emotional, and cognitive effects.

Another key gap involves inconsistent terminology and target demographics. Keywords like “youth,” “young people,” and “adolescents” are used interchangeably across studies, often referring to varied age ranges. This inconsistency hampers cross-study comparisons and hinders development of age-specific interventions.

What Are the Global and Cultural Dimensions of the Problem?

The bibliometric data highlights not only the global scope of the issue but also how cultural values shape academic responses. Countries with individualistic cultures, such as the United States and the UK, tend to focus on personal vulnerabilities and cognitive responses to misinformation. In contrast, collectivist societies like China, Indonesia, and Nigeria often frame information disorder as a societal challenge affecting group cohesion and national stability.

Despite the increasing participation of developing countries in this research field, their representation remains low. The disproportionate concentration of studies in Western contexts raises concerns about the universality of findings and the risk of overlooking regional variations in social media use, regulatory policies, and cultural interpretations of misinformation.

Platform-specific dynamics also deserve further attention. TikTok, with its short-form video content and algorithm-driven virality, is emerging as a critical hub for adolescent misinformation. Yet research on TikTok’s role in information disorder lags behind its widespread adoption. The platform’s design, which blends entertainment with information, creates unique challenges for adolescents seeking both gratification and truth, an intersection where traditional media literacy strategies may fall short.

The study underscores the necessity of culturally sensitive, developmentally tailored interventions that reflect local information ecosystems. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory is proposed as a useful framework for understanding how different societies interpret and react to misinformation, with the authors urging cross-cultural comparative studies to develop more effective and globally adaptable strategies.

In a series of recommendations, the authors call for enhanced collaboration between educators, mental health professionals, technology platforms, and policymakers. For educational institutions, they advocate for integrating media literacy across curricula with an emphasis on emotional regulation and social responsibility, not just fact-checking. For technology companies, the study stresses the importance of building age-appropriate friction mechanisms such as reflective prompts before sharing emotionally charged content and increasing transparency in algorithmic content curation.