Evaluation of Source Credibility and Relevance
This essay explores the impact of social media on adolescents, looking at both the positive and negative aspects of the influence. For this purpose, a peer-reviewed article was chosen from the medical journal Mental Health titled “Social media and adolescent mental health: the good, the bad and the ugly” written by researcher Michelle O’Reilly, 2020. Since the article was written in 2020 and has been reviewed and confirmed by experts, this resource can be considered reliable and used for further reflection. Therefore, this resource is credible and valuable because it was written by a scholar in 2020 and looks at the chosen topic from different angles.
Author’s Background and Scholarly Authority
The author of the selected article is Michelle O’Reilly, Associate Professor at the University of Leicester in the UK. Her research focuses on psychotherapy, child and adolescent mental health research, and mental health practice. In addition to this article, she has also written ‘Applied Conversation Analysis’, ‘Doing mental health research with children and adolescents’, and ‘Examining mental health through social constructionism’ (ORCID, n.d.).
Analysis of Research Design and Methodology
This article is based on qualitative research, and data were collected from several groups of demographically different adolescents. The article examines both positive and negative aspects of the impact of social media on health. In addition, the author did not put forward any theories and then try to confirm them, but instead explored the problem as the results emerged, which makes the article credible.
Interpretation of Findings and Thematic Structure
The Good
Facilitating socialization was mentioned as a positive aspect of the impact (O’Reilly, 2020). Communication, relationships, and social interconnections are crucial for people, especially adolescents. This aspect affects mental health, as a person with communication problems may suffer from stress and other challenges. In this case, social networks facilitate communication and socialization, and thus have a direct and positive impact on adolescents’ mental health.
The Bad
The second category included negative factors such as poor sleep, the desire to be online, and media pressure. As for the factors of poor sleep, they mentioned the doctor’s opinion to whom they came with complaints, and the idea of “waiting for a response to a message” that delayed the time for healthy sleep (O’Reilly, 2020). Constantly checking the number of likes, new notifications, or generally wanting to be aware of everything provokes addiction and stress when you can’t go online. Ideal images on social media and the attempt to live up to this ideal put pressure on adolescents and lower their self-esteem.
The Ugly
Lastly, the worst impact category includes bullying, trolling, and consequences that lead to poor mental health and sometimes cause suicide or self-harm.
Critical Assessment of Strengths and Limitations
Social networks are a reality of our lives, and it is pretty challenging to avoid them. The division into three categories is somewhat rough. It does not express the full scope, but since the study was qualitative and included discussions with teenagers, this division was logical and meaningful, which helped to perceive the study results more easily (Peterson, 2019).
Conducting the study using a qualitative method is useful, but the generalization of the results and meta-synthesis of the participants’ voices were lacking for a better perception. The article is generally relevant and confirmed by experts, written by a scientist, and does not address the issue from a one-sided perspective. It is also suitable for the topic studied in the essay, so it was chosen.
When assessing the credibility of a source, the time of writing, information about the author, and the research itself were considered. The place of publication also adds credibility to the source, and the author’s references to other scientific works confirm the reliability of the information presented. The practice of assessing the reliability and usefulness of a source ensures the accuracy of the research that is formed using information from this source. In addition, scientifically sound research can only be formed based on relevant and reliable sources, so evaluation is crucial.
References
ORCID. (n.d.). Web.
O’Reilly, M. (2020). Social media and adolescent mental health: the good, the bad and the ugly. Journal of Mental Health, 29(2), 200–206. Web.
Peterson, J. S. (2019). Presenting a Qualitative Study: A Reviewer’s perspective. Gifted Child Quarterly, 63(3), 147–158. Web.