Healio (3/26, Feliciano) reports, “Maladaptive patterns of smartphone use and greater daily screentime were associated with body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors, a study” found. Investigators came to this conclusion after evaluating “the overlap between problematic smartphone use, which they defined as ‘maladaptive use mirroring a behavioral addiction,’ and symptoms of disordered eating in a systematic review of 35 studies.” The findingswere published in JMIR Mental Health.

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— “Eating disorder symptoms linked to problematic smartphone use,”Octavia Feliciano, Healio, March 26, 2026

The New York Times (3/25, Kang, Mac, Tan) reports a Los Angeles jury found Wednesday that Meta and YouTube “harmed a young user with design features that were addictive and led to her mental health distress.” The jury found that “Meta must pay $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages, and YouTube must pay $1.8 million.” The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman, “accused social media companies of creating products as addictive as cigarettes or digital casinos.” According to the Times, the “landmark decision…could open social media companies to more lawsuits over users’ well-being.” The finding “validates a novel legal theory that social media sites or apps can cause personal injury. It is likely to factor into similar cases expected to go to trial this year.” Wednesday’s verdict follows a similar “ruling this week by a New Mexico jury” that found “Meta liable for violating state law by failing to safeguard users of its apps from child predators.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (3/24, Neff) reports a study found that “when a parent dies unexpectedly due to violence, self-harm or addiction, the trauma for a child left behind is immense.” The researchers “looked at decades of data to understand the survival rates of children in the state who lost a biological parent to three specific causes: Homicide, suicide or drug overdose.” They found that “those who lost a parent to one of these three causes were far more likely to die before the age of 18 than the general population.” Overall, the researchers “linked 150 excess childhood deaths in Michigan over the 14-year study period directly to the loss of a parent.” The study was discussed in a JAMA Network Open research letter.

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— “Parental Loss Due to Drugs, Violence Raises Child Death Risk by 2,000%,”Deanna Neff, HealthDay, March 24, 2026

MedPage Today (3/25, Monaco) reports a study found that “a growing proportion of antipsychotic prescriptions for older adults were written by nonphysician clinicians, reflecting shifts in the mental health care workforce and prescribing practices.” According to the study, “from 2013 to 2023, antipsychotic prescription claims for Medicare Part D beneficiaries written by psychiatrists and primary care physicians (PCPs) declined annually by 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively.” However, “prescriptions from advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs)…rose by 11.8% each year.” Researchers observed that “over the decade, the proportion of prescriptions decreased for psychiatrists (from 48.4% to 32.4%) and PCPs (from 33% to 23.8%) but nearly tripled for APRNs and PAs, jumping from 13.8% to 39.6%.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (3/24, Henderson) reports a systematic scoping review of 12 articles suggests that consumers should not “expect accuracy and transparency in the promotion of prescription drugs by social media influencers.” While evidence was limited in the review, researchers observed that “recurrent themes in posts about prescription drugs by influencers included misinformation and blurred lines between personal testimony and paid promotion, with weak regulatory oversight.” Of the review’s findings, “concerns about accuracy and misinformation were raised in seven studies.” In addition, the authors wrote that several studies detailed the “critical role of parasocial dynamics in shaping trust and engagement with influencer content (persuasiveness).” Furthermore, researchers noted that FDA and FTC guidance on transparency was “described as vague, outdated, and difficult to enforce across global platforms.” The review was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)