January 20, 2026

Limiting social media use and adolescent mental health – launch of a world-first trial

There are many strong opinions on whether the UK should implement a ban on social media for young people. The current evidence base of how effective a ban would be is limited, but scientists are working hard to try and generate the evidence that will help us understand what impact different social media policies have on the mental health and wellbeing of young people.

Journalists came to this SMC briefing to hear from the Co-leads of a major new trial set to start later this year involving thousands of UK schoolchildren, which will examine whether limiting social media use can improve adolescent mental health. The study will be one of the largest yet undertaken anywhere in the world as part of the major public health study Born In Bradford.

They outlined why this trial is needed, the research aims of this study, how it will be conducted, when we’ll see results, and how it can support decision makers in their policies around social media use in young people.

Speakers included:

Prof Amy Orben, Research Professor and Programme Leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge and Co-lead of this study

Dr Dan Lewer, Lead of Bradford Centre for Health Data Science and Consultant in Public Health, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Co-lead of this study