Rural Realities Young People, Digital Technology, and Well-being
Research Reveals Rural Young People Face Unique Digital Mental Health Challenges
Young people today are navigating mental health challenges in a time of constant digital connection. Social media and digital technology are woven into nearly every aspect of their daily lives. For rural young people, experiences with mental health, social media, and help-seeking are shaped by a mix of isolation and opportunity. Digital spaces can serve as both a lifeline and a landscape to navigate with care.
Barriers to Digital Mental Health
The research identified several factors contributing to lower digital mental health engagement among rural young people, including limited internet connectivity, stigma around mental health discussions, lack of parental support, and concerns about privacy in small communities.
“I feel like a lot of young people, rural and suburban and urban, they all experience some type of mental health issue. For rural people, because you don’t really speak much about mental health, you’re not going to reach out and talk to somebody, so you’re kind of internally struggling with that depression or anxiety.”
Key Findings
Key Finding 01
Rural young people are less likely to use social media daily compared to their suburban/urban peers.
Among survey respondents, 75% of rural young people reported using social media daily, compared to 85% of those in suburban/urban areas.
Key Finding 02
Rural young people are more likely to prefer communicating via social media rather than in person, and they use social media differently than their suburban/urban peers.
Rural young people are significantly more likely than their suburban/urban peers to prefer communicating through social media rather than in person (49% vs. 38%).
In co-distillation interviews, rural young people explained that although they may use social media less frequently overall, it remains a meaningful way to connect with people in ways that feel safer both within and beyond their rural communities.
Key Finding 03
Rural and suburban/urban young people experience depression and anxiety at similar rates.
Rural young people report rates of moderate to severe depression (30% vs. 28%) and moderate to severe anxiety (24% vs. 24%) that are comparable to those of their suburban/urban peers.
Key Finding 04
Rural young people are less likely to use mental health and well-being mobile apps, even when experiencing depression or anxiety.
Despite having comparable rates of moderate to severe depression and anxiety compared to their suburban/urban peers, rural young people are less likely to use apps related to mental health and well-being for most topics. Specifically, rural participants were less likely than their suburban/urban peers to report using apps for quitting smoking or vaping (6% vs. 11%), depression (13% vs. 19%), sleep (14% vs. 36%), anxiety (15% vs. 21%), mood tracking (15% vs. 22%), stress reduction (17% vs. 24%), happiness or well-being (19% vs. 27%), and meditation/mindfulness (19% vs. 32%).
Key Finding 05
Rural young people are less likely to have attended online therapy to support their mental health and well-being.
Rural young people are significantly less likely to report having ever attended online therapy (20%) compared to their suburban/urban young peers (28%).
“Connectivity is a huge issue. Here, the only place outside of the school that has public Wi-Fi is our library. And I know not a lot of people would be thrilled to have an online therapy session in the library.”
Key Finding 06
Rural young people are more likely to permanently stop using social media due to harassment, negative experiences, or concerns about time spent online.
Rural young people are more likely than suburban/urban young people to report permanently stopping social media use in the past 12 months because of harassment and negative experiences (36% vs. 26%) and because they felt tempted to spend too much time on it (47% vs. 39%).
“Social media can be pretty annoying and hateful, and it makes sense that younger people, especially rural younger people, are more likely to stop using it because it’s kind of their only real escape from the hatred in real life. So whenever there’s hatred online too, it just feels like you can’t escape it. And it is better at that point to get rid of social media so that you don’t have to have hatred thrown at you in two different media.”
Key Finding 07
Rural young people are less likely to encounter affirming content about diverse identities on social media.
Rural young people are significantly less likely than their suburban/urban peers to encounter comments on social media that affirm people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds (50% vs. 67%), LGBTQ+ identities (51% vs. 66%), and intersectional identities (54% vs. 62%).
Key Finding 08
Rural young people are less likely to report high levels of life purpose.
Rural young people are significantly less likely to report having a high sense of life purpose compared to suburban/urban young people (48% vs. 57%).
