The Shores of Academia

The Shores of Academia by David Stein critically examines the misreporting and misunderstandings surrounding adolescent mental health trends, especially concerning the roles of social media and suicide rates. It highlights errors in scientific reporting, challenges claims of causality between social media use and mental health issues, and emphasizes the need for rigorous data interpretation and methodology.

Adolescent Mental Health Misinformation in Scientific Reporting Social Media's Impact Suicide Trends and Prevention Methodological Critiques in Mental Health Research

The hottest Substack posts of The Shores of Academia

And their main takeaways

Unjustified Critique of a CDC Report on Social Media Risks

39 implied HN points • 29 Oct 24
🏥 Health Politics Mental health Public Health Social media
  1. The CDC report links frequent social media use to increased risks of bullying, feelings of sadness, and suicidal thoughts among teens. It found that a significant number of high school students use social media frequently, which may affect their mental health.
  2. Chris Ferguson criticizes the CDC report, claiming it shows bias and incompetence without providing solid evidence for his accusations. He describes the CDC's findings as exaggerated and accuses the authors of unethical behavior, which raises questions about his arguments.
  3. The conversation around social media impacts on mental health is polarizing, with some dismissing concerns as moral panic. This reflects a broader debate about the effects of digital technology on youth and the responsibility of researchers to communicate findings accurately.

Perils of Flawed Meta-Analytic Methodology

39 implied HN points • 03 Oct 24
🔬 Science Health Research Statistics Psychology Methodology
  1. Flawed meta-analysis can mix different studies that aren't similar, making it hard to draw clear conclusions about their effects on things like mental health.
  2. It’s important for researchers to look at specific impacts and not just assume that a random-effects model explains everything. Understanding the differences in outcomes can lead to better insights.
  3. Proper analysis in studies is really important, especially when people's health is at risk. Ignoring negative findings can mislead people about the safety of products like drugs.

Adolescent Suicide Nonsense in National Academies Report

438 implied HN points • 14 Dec 23
  1. The National Academies report included an incorrect graph on adolescent suicide trends, downplaying the severity of the issue.
  2. The report misrepresented the urgency of high suicide rates among adolescents and made misleading arguments based on the erroneous graph.
  3. The authors of the report wrongly attributed the recent rise in adolescent suicide to 'cyclicality,' failing to provide credible evidence for this claim.

Haidt's After Babel: A Preview of Main Concerns

139 implied HN points • 30 Jul 23
  1. Haidt and the writer agree there is a crisis in adolescent mental health
  2. The writer criticizes the lack of evidence linking social media to depression and suicide trends
  3. Haidt does not consider alternative explanations for the rise in adolescent mental health issues
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Haidt: Social Media Associations with Harm

119 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
  1. Haidt's argument lacks sufficient evidence and contains serious errors.
  2. The studies cited do not specifically focus on social media's impact on mental health or adolescents.
  3. Haidt's comparison of correlations and assertions lack proper context and are misleading.

Social Media Time circa 2015 (Haidt's After Babel)

119 implied HN points • 11 Aug 23
  1. Most teen girls in 2015 spent less than an hour daily on social media
  2. Social media may not have been the primary cause of displacement of 'real life' activities for girls
  3. Games and entertainment might be more significant in time displacement than social media for girls

Social Media and Time Displacement (Haidt's After Babel)

99 implied HN points • 08 Aug 23
  1. Haidt suggests social media caused declines in mental health among girls by displacing time from beneficial offline activities.
  2. Haidt focuses on Instagram and Facebook, but neglects other social media platforms like MySpace, YouTube, and TikTok.
  3. Haidt claims tween girls spent excessive time on social media without providing evidence or considering alternative screen activities.

National Academies Misinformation Undermines Concerns about Adolescent Mental Health

39 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
  1. The Committee on the Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Health is spreading misinformation about adolescent mental health trends.
  2. The National Academies report undermines concerns about adolescent mental health crises and fails to address relevant trends.
  3. Critiques will be posted to highlight how the National Academies report serves corporate interests over protecting adolescent mental health.

Haidt: Social Media in O&P Paper

79 implied HN points • 22 Aug 23
  1. Haidt misleads readers about the contents of the 2019 Orben & Przybylski paper, inaccurately describing its findings and comparisons.
  2. Haidt undermines the seriousness of methodological flaws in the Orben & Przybylski paper by incorrectly interpreting statistics and comparisons.
  3. Haidt's attempt to argue that social media is more harmful than other digital screen use based on the Orben & Przybylski paper relies on misinformation and flawed statistical analysis.

The Fishbowl Effect (Facebook Expansion Study)

59 implied HN points • 14 Sep 23
  1. Early Facebook had a unique environment due to restricted access for college students only.
  2. The 'fishbowl' effect intensified social competition on early Facebook.
  3. Negative mental health impacts from the 'fishbowl' effect may have dissipated with Facebook's expansion to the general public.

Haidt: Quasi-Experimental Evidence

59 implied HN points • 27 Aug 23
  1. Establishing causality in quasi-experimental studies without randomization is challenging.
  2. Use caution when interpreting causal relationships in retroactive quasi-experiments.
  3. Blaming social media effects solely on social media expansion may overlook the role of high-speed internet.

Haidt: Experimental Evidence

59 implied HN points • 25 Aug 23
  1. Social media exposure studies on mood disorders lack persistent evidence.
  2. Studies need to differentiate between mood disorders and peripheral issues like FOMO.
  3. Longer intervention studies are needed to validate declines in depression.

Haidt: Longitudinal Evidence

59 implied HN points • 23 Aug 23
  1. Haidt lacks proper longitudinal evidence showing harm to girls from social media.
  2. Haidt incorrectly implies causation can be determined in correlational studies.
  3. Haidt's presentation of evidence relies on readers to judge importance and accuracy of studies.

The Fallacy of Requiring a Single Cause

39 implied HN points • 18 Nov 23
  1. Multiple adolescent trends have distinct scopes and timings
  2. Presumption of a single cause for mental health trends is flawed
  3. Exclusion of multi-factor causes in explaining mental health trends is a major flaw

A Remarkable Reversal (Haidt's After Babel)

59 implied HN points • 22 May 23
  1. Psychiatrist R. A. Friedman reversed his opinion about adolescent mental health from dismissive to alarming.
  2. Friedman's reversal happened between 2018 and 2020, acknowledging the increasing issue of depression and suicide among young Americans.
  3. The case of Friedman shows the importance of recognizing and reversing tunnel vision to address serious societal issues.

Misleading Context (Facebook Expansion Study)

39 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
  1. Mood disorders among young adults did not start rising in mid-2000s as implied by a study.
  2. The study authors failed to provide sufficient context and misled readers by omitting relevant trend data.
  3. Evidence points to early-to-mid 2010s as the start of the rise in mood disorders among young adults, not the mid-2000s as suggested.

Facebook Expansion: Invisible Impacts?

39 implied HN points • 04 Sep 23
  1. A study found that the expansion of Facebook at colleges had a negative impact on student mental health.
  2. There is no evidence from 2000-2008 National College Health Assessment data that shows sustained increases in depression due to the social media explosion.
  3. The authors of the Facebook expansion study did not include any relevant mental health trends data in their analysis, raising questions about the accuracy of their conclusions.

Youth Suicide Rise

4 HN points • 15 Jan 24
  1. The number of adolescent suicides in the US doubled between 2007-2017 despite a decrease in the adolescent population, with higher increases for girls and young adolescents.
  2. There have been about a thousand excess suicide deaths among children and adolescents each year above the expected counts, with potential prevention efforts focusing on teens with trauma from childhood.
  3. Analyzing trends in youth suicide rates and predictive models suggest that underlying factors like childhood suicide trauma might have contributed to the rise in youth suicides over the past decades.