Highlights in child mental health research: June 2026

Prepared by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)

Factors associated with resilience among parents of autistic children

This systematic review examines 13 studies that explored factors associated with resilience among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. Higher resilience was associated with older parental age, stable employment, positive mental health and self-compassion. Lower resilience was associated with financial strain, parental stress and maladaptive coping strategies. Parents generally reported greater resilience when their child had strong social support networks and fewer behavioural challenges.

The effects of social media on adolescent mental health

This study used longitudinal data to examine the effects of adolescents’ social media use on their mental health. The findings suggest that over two hours of social media use a day was associated with a slight increase in depressive symptoms and poorer wellbeing a year later compared to adolescents who spent less than one hour a day on social media. This finding was strongest for younger adolescents (aged 12 to 13 years).

The relationship between internet addiction and mental health conditions in children and young people

This systematic review examined 22 studies about the relationship between internet addiction and mental health conditions in children and adolescents. Internet addiction was associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compared to children and adolescents without internet addiction. The authors discuss the possibility that internet use may function as a coping strategy for underlying mental health challenges. Shared factors such as emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, reward sensitivity, social withdrawal and sleep disruption may also help explain the relationship between problematic internet use and mental health difficulties.

The effectiveness of bullying prevention-associated interventions among children and adolescents

This umbrella review examined 30 meta-analyses involving 766 original studies of bullying prevention interventions for children and adolescents. Interventions were generally associated with improvements in bullying-related behaviours, attitudes and mental health. While music-based interventions showed the largest observed effects for reducing aggressive behaviour, school-based anti-bullying programs demonstrated the strongest evidence for improving attitudes that discourage bullying.