Main description:

This book explores the increasingly important intersection of the digital world and mental health in the lives of pediatric and young adult populations. Young people are spending a considerable amount of time on digital screen activities such as social media, texting, and online gaming. The vast majority of teens and pre-teens have access to computers and smartphones shifting social interaction away from face-to-face contact toward online communication.

A practical resource, Teens, Screens, and Social Connection provides the reader with a targeted yet comprehensive understanding of a wide variety of internet and media-related topics facing youth today. Chapters include discussions on the developmental view from early childhood to young adulthood as well as the unique racial and cultural issues pertaining to technology and media. The book provides both the challenges of the internet and media to be identified as well as solutions and clinical pearls that can be immediately applied to clinical practice and real-world scenarios.

This book is a practical reference that functions as a concise yet comprehensive summary of the most important aspects of this very timely and important topic. It is an invaluable, practical resource for mental health clinicians, as well as students and those professionals who work with youth in other domains.

Contents:

1. Introduction: We Are Living in a Digital World2. The Role of Media in Development: Early Childhood to Adolescence3. Healthy Internet Use: Is It Possible?4. Social Media and Screen Time in the Clinical Interview: What to Ask and What It Means5. Internet Gaming Disorder and Addictive Behaviors Online 6. Social Media and Cyberbullying7. Sexuality on the Internet: Identity Exploration, Cybersex and Sexting8. Fear of Missing Out: Depression and the Internet9. Contribution of Social Media to Eating Disorders10. Culture, Race and Social Media11. Social Media's Influence on Identity Formation and Self Expression12. Autism and the Internet13. Peer to Peer Support and the Strength of Online Communities14. Internet Safety: Family and Clinician Protection of Kids Online15. Virtual Mental Health and Telepsychiatry: Opportunities and Challenges with Pediatric Patients16. Remote Education: How to Support Online Learning - Dawn Cunningham High School Educator17. Morality and Ethics: Doing the Right Thing Online18. Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Global Pandemic