Did Scrolling Lead to Struggle?
The data that possibly tells the story behind the decline in teenage mental health and the social media ban.
The Arrival of Social Media
How social media platforms landed in Australian teenagers’ hands through the 2010s.
2004
2010
2011
2016
The Shift
As social media became embedded in teenage life, something else was changing. Across Australia, young people were reporting higher and higher levels of psychological distress and the gap between girls and boys was growing wider every year.
Between 2012 and 2020, the proportion of Australian teenagers aged 15–19 reporting psychological distress rose from 18.6% to 26.6%. Female teens were consistently twice as likely as males to report distress — by 2020, 34.1% of girls reported high distress compared to 15.3% of boys.
But distress rates alone don’t tell the whole story. When young Australians were asked what they considered the most important issues facing the country, their answers revealed just how deeply mental health had entered the national conversation.
In 2023, mental health was nominated as one of Australia’s most important issues by 30.3% of young people, with female teens significantly more likely to raise it than males (37.3% vs 21.4%).
“Around 3 in 10 respondents were extremely or very concerned about mental health.”
The Response
Australia looked at this data and decided to act. In November 2024, it became the first country in the world to ban social media for users under 16.
Senate inquiry begins
Bill introduced
Law passed
Ban takes effect
What the data shows
Psychological distress among Australian teens rose steadily from 2012 to 2020. Female teens were consistently twice as likely as males to report distress. Mental health was nominated as a top national concern by 30% of young Australians in 2023.
What it doesn’t prove
The data cannot establish that social media caused this decline. Other factors — academic pressure, COVID-19, economic anxiety — rose during the same period. Correlation is not causation, and the long-term effects of the ban remain to be seen.
Conclusion
The numbers tell a clear story — Australian teenagers grew more distressed as social media grew more dominant. Whether one caused the other remains unproven. But Australia decided the pattern was compelling enough to act, becoming the first country in the world to draw a legal line. The data brought us here. What happens next is still being written.
Data Sources
Mission
Australia & Black Dog Institute — Psychological Distress in Young
People in Australia (2012–2020)
Mission
Australia & Black Dog Institute — Can We Talk? Seven Year Youth
Mental Health Report (2012–2018)
Mission
Australia — Youth Survey (2023)
eSafety
Commissioner — Digital Lives of Aussie Teens (2017, 2020)
Was the evidence enough to act?