Asma Awan (Dental) and Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health, Internal Medicine) published an article titled, “Theoretical Paradigms Implied in Social Media Use and Mental Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review” in the journal Advances in Medicine, Psychology, and Public Health. The review explained thirteen theoretical paradigms which were organized into five families: comparison-and-evaluation, motivational/needs, behavioral-physiological, identity-developmental, and ecological/susceptibility-and-flourishing. The review concluded that social media's mental health consequences are paradigm-specific, context-dependent, and bidirectional. No single theory suffices it, rather integrative models are required, with implications required of digital literacy, clinical screening, platform design, and policy frameworks. Awan is a doctoral student.
