A Place to be Seen Mental Health and Online Support Among Southern Youth in the U.S.
Young people today are growing up in a time of constant connectivity, where digital tools and social platforms shape how they communicate, learn, and thrive.
For young people living in the Southern United States, these digital spaces interact with unique cultural and structural factors that influence their mental health and well-being. Online environments can serve as lifelines, offering connection, support, and information, while also reflecting and sometimes intensifying broader challenges.
“It may seem like the South is a big conservative bubble. But there are people here who are scared, people here who are depressed and have anxiety and need help just as much as young people anywhere else. We’re all people,”
The Need for Nuanced Understanding
Young people are growing up in an era where digital tools and social platforms significantly influence how they communicate, learn, and thrive. For young people in the South, these digital spaces interact with unique cultural and structural factors that influence their mental health and well-being. Online environments can serve as lifelines, offering connection, support, and information, while also reflecting and sometimes intensifying broader challenges. The research underscores the importance of acknowledging regional differences among young people in the United States and centering the voices of young people who are often overlooked in national conversations. By grounding solutions in evidence rather than bias and regional stereotypes, we can build more effective support systems for the mental health and well-being of young people.
Key Finding 01
Southern young people, compared to peers in other regions of the U.S., are more likely to view social media as an important mental health resource.
Compared to peers in other U.S. regions, young people from the South are significantly more likely to report that social media is important for finding information or resources about mental health or well-being (57% vs. 47%) and connecting with others who have similar mental health concerns (63% vs. 56%).
“Social media is somewhere that you can go and feel a sense of community, where in real life, sometimes you might not be able to find that."
Key Finding 02
Southern young people are less likely to see affirming content on social media.
Compared to peers from other U.S. regions, young people in the South are significantly less likely to encounter comments on social media that affirm intersectional identities (55% vs. 63%), affirm LGBTQ+ identities (58% vs. 65%), and celebrate body diversity and body positivity (64% vs. 70%).
“There is a big community of people in the South who donʼt enjoy the inclusion of other people. They tend to say things that might be hurtful or might be less affirming or they donʼt affirm at all. And social media is kind of localized where you live, so you see that non- inclusive content.”
Key Finding 03
Southern young people experience depression & anxiety at similar rates to their peers in other U.S. regions.
Southern young people report rates of moderate to severe mental health symptoms that closely mirror those of young people from other U.S. regions. Twenty-seven percent of Southern youth report moderate to severe depression symptoms, compared to 28% of those from other regions.
“Everyone struggles. I believe that itʼs not just one group of people who are struggling, but there are a lot of people who are struggling. Itʼs a problem that needs to be solved as a whole community together.”
Key Finding 04
Young people from the South are less likely to go online to find information on well-being and mental health topics.
Despite reporting similar rates of depression and anxiety symptoms as their peers from other parts of the U.S., young people in the South are significantly less likely to go online to look up information related to mental health and well-being.
“One of the main things is the stigma in talking about [mental health and well-being]. If youʼre not used to talking about it or if you donʼt feel as though you can talk about it, itʼs not something that you view as a problem or as an issue that you could be facing. Youʼre not gonna be likely to look it up.”
Key Finding 05
One in four Southern young people have used online therapy — similar to their peers from other U.S. regions.
Roughly one in four young people in the Southern U.S. report having used online therapy (25%), a rate nearly identical to their peers from other U.S. regions (26%).
“Thereʼs a culture in the South that I have to deal with this myself because Iʼm strong. And people push that onto other people, saying itʼs not okay to get therapy […] Not only have I been told it, but a lot of other young people who I have interacted with have felt that they are discouraged from seeking therapy, or they just feel like they don't need it and that theyʼll be fine.”
Key Finding 06
Southern young people are more pessimistic about the future impact of generative AI than their peers in other regions of the U.S.
Young people in the Southern U.S. express more skepticism about the long-term effects of generative AI compared to their peers in other regions. They are more likely to believe that AI will have a mostly negative impact on their lives over the next decade (23% vs. 17%) and less likely to expect a mostly positive impact (13% vs. 18%).
