What the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey reveals about American teens and social media

What to take away

What the YRBS measures, and the media question it actually asks

The CDC runs the YRBS with state and local education and health agencies. Students answer a questionnaire in class. Participation is voluntary, and states can add or drop questions.

The sample runs in three stages: schools, then classes, then students within classes. Weights correct for nonresponse. That design supports population trends, not individual causes.

The media item is one combined question. It asks how many hours a student spends playing video or computer games, or using a computer for something that is not school work, counting "Xbox, PlayStation, an iPod, an iPad or other tablet, a smartphone, YouTube, Facebook or other social networking tools, and the Internet."

Response options run from "I do not play video or computer games or use a computer for something that is not school work" to "5 or more hours per day." Games and feeds share one answer.

State and local questionnaires vary the wording, so cross-state comparisons are shaky. Questionnaires and codebooks sit on the CDC's data and documentation page.

That lumped item explains a common misreading. A headline claiming the CDC linked social media to teen sadness often rests on a screen-time answer. Audience explains more than hours, as we set out in teen social media use.

What the 2023 survey found about social media use and electronic bullying

The 2023 national questionnaire was the first to ask about social media on its own: "How often do you use social media?" It describes social media with examples such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter. Answers run from not using it, through a few times a month and once a day, to more than once an hour.

CDC's report on the 2023 results, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, United States, 2023, counts "several times a day" or more as frequent use. By that definition, 77.0 percent of high school students were frequent users: 81.8 percent of girls and 72.9 percent of boys.

The same survey asks about electronic bullying, meaning texting, Instagram, Facebook or other social media, in the past 12 months. CDC's 2023 Data Summary and Trends report puts it at about 16 percent of students, with girls more likely than boys to report it.

The CDC's analysis also compared frequent and less frequent users. Persistent sadness or hopelessness was 42.6 percent among frequent users and 31.9 percent among the rest. Electronic bullying was 17.0 percent against 15.9 percent, a gap that was not significant before adjustment.

Those are associations. The survey cannot say whether heavy use led to sadness or sad students used their phones more. It also gives no breakdown by app or by hours per platform, so a claim about one platform needs another source.

What the 2021 and 2023 cycles found about teen mental health

The 2021 national YRBS was collected during the pandemic. It found that 42 percent of high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row, up from 28 percent in 2011.

The same cycle found 29 percent reporting poor mental health during the pandemic and 22 percent who seriously considered suicide. Girls reported persistent sadness at 57 percent, against 29 percent of boys.

The 2021 national YRBS results and methods supplement is the citable source, because it documents the sample and weighting behind each estimate.

The 2023 cycle, published in 2024, recorded a modest improvement. Persistent sadness fell to 40 percent overall and 53 percent among girls. Serious consideration of suicide fell to 20 percent.

That remains far above the 2011 level. Read 40 percent as a high baseline, not a resolved problem. For sorting ordinary moods from something more persistent, see four questions on teen mental wellbeing.

Check the CDC's YRBS results page for any newer cycle before quoting 2023 as current.

Why a YRBS figure cannot prove social media caused anything

Every YRBS answer is self-reported, so embarrassment and memory shape it. The survey is cross-sectional, photographing one school year rather than following students over time. Teen sadness and screen time both rose in that decade, alongside shifts no questionnaire captures. For habits at home, see our screen-time habits guide.

A YRBS percentage tells you how many students said something in one spring. It does not tell you what came first.

Before repeating a claim, run it through three questions:

If the third answer is cause, the YRBS alone cannot carry that claim.

Example, with invented numbers: a state fact sheet reports persistent sadness at 40 percent and heavy daily screen time at 30 percent. Without a published cross-tab, you cannot tell whether the heavy users are the sad ones.

Where to report exploitation and bullying

Reports of sexual exploitation and abuse online go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which runs the CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org. School bullying often needs a second route: a written report to the district. Our guide to reporting cyberbullying and sextortion sets out which agency handles which harm.

What other sources cover that the YRBS does not

The Surgeon General's advisory on social media and youth mental health is the best framing document for a family conversation. It names design features that may matter, including infinite scroll and social comparison metrics. It also notes that some teens benefit from online connection.

Legal coverage stops earlier than most parents assume. COPPA, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, governs data collection from children under 13, and school records fall under separate rules. Our explainer on how COPPA and FERPA protect teen data shows where each one stops.

Common questions