Parents are more worried than teens about teen mental health. Both groups – especially parents – partly blame social media. But teens also see benefits.

The impact of social media on young people’s mental health and well-being is a growing topic of concern among parents, educators, health care professionals and regulators. And now, nearly half of US teens say social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age — and almost the same proportion say they’re cutting back on social media use.

Research shows that, over the past two decades, rates of mental illness have been increasing in adolescents in many countries. While some scientists point to soaring use of smartphones and social media as a key driver for this trend, others say the evidence does not show a large effect of these technologies on teenagers’ psychological health.