The internet pervades almost every facet of daily life for many of us, and the amount of time we spend online has increased exponentially since 2010. Children and young people, so-called ‘digital natives’, are the demographic with the highest proportion of internet users, are most likely to spend extended amounts of time online, and engage in a broader spectrum of types of internet use.
Trends in overall worsening adolescent mental health coincide with this period of mass internet proliferation, however the existing body of literature presents conflicting evidence on the extent of their connection. Recent theories describe a bidirectional relationship between internet use and the mental health of young people. This living systematic review seeks to compare mental health outcomes for both type and duration of internet exposure in young people.