Addressing Social Media Use in Adolescent Psychosocial Health Screening

Many clinicians use the HEADSSS (HEADS³) assessment (Home life, Education, Activities, Drugs, Sexuality/sexual behaviors, Safety, and Suicide/mental health) to guide their comprehensive assessment of adolescents during primary care visits. Because social media use is now such an integral part of adolescence and is linked with negative effects on adolescent mental health (NEJM JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Jul 2017 and Child Dev 2017 May 3; [e-pub]), a group from Baylor College of Medicine is proposing an addition to HEADS³ (creating HEADS⁴) to engage adolescents aged >11 years in a discussion about the role of social media in their lives. They recommend these questions:

1. Which social media sites/apps do you use on a regular basis?

2. On a typical …