Disagreement and uncertainty are common features of everyday life. They're also common and expected features of scientific research.

The impact of social media on young people’s mental health and well-being is a growing topic of concern among parents, educators, health care professionals and regulators. And now, nearly half of US teens say social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age — and almost the same proportion say they’re cutting back on social media use.

Parents are more worried than teens about teen mental health. Both groups – especially parents – partly blame social media. But teens also see benefits.