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Social media and mental health

January 25, 2026

Project overview

Social media now play a central role in the lives of young athletes. While they can foster social support, motivation, and access to sports-related content, they also expose users to specific risks, including sleep disturbances, appearance-related pressure, anxiety, interference with training, and cyberbullying.

In response to these challenges, the ReFORM network has developed a research project aimed at better understanding the impact of social media, hyperconnectivity, and cyberbullying on young athletes’ mental health and performance, in order to inform prevention and safeguarding actions tailored to the sporting context.

Objectives

The project aims to:

  • analyse the positive and negative effects of social media on well-being and perceived performance;

  • examine the influence of age, sex, type of sport, level of participation, and platforms used;

  • investigate the role of screen time on sleep, stress, and recovery;

  • document the prevalence and consequences of cyberbullying among young athletes.

Methodology

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 912 athletes aged 12 to 24 years, from both individual and team sports, and across different levels of participation. A multilingual online questionnaire was used to assess digital behaviours, perceived impacts on mental health and performance, self-regulation strategies, and experiences of cyberbullying.

Key messages

The results show that:

  • social media use is almost universal among young athletes;

  • its effects are ambivalent, combining support and motivation with sleep disturbances, stress, and appearance-related pressure;

  • higher levels of exposure are associated with more negative effects;

  • although cyberbullying affects a minority of athletes, it has significant consequences for those concerned, with limited use of formal support mechanisms.

Next steps

The next phase of the project will focus on the development of educational and preventive resources for:

  • athletes,

  • coaches,

  • parents and caregivers.

These resources will aim to strengthen digital literacy, encourage more balanced use of social media, prevent associated risks, and improve safeguarding strategies in sport.