A nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 472 US adolescents aged 13–17 assessed the prevalence of self-reported online harms (harassment, sexual solicitation, violent content exposure, and technology-related sleep disruption) across 20 online platforms over the past 4 weeks, conducted February–December 2025.
44.7% of adolescents witnessed harassment and 29.8% experienced it directly; online exposure exceeded offline for violent imagery (10.7% vs 1.6%), unwanted sexual images (13.4% vs 2.0%), and self-harm content (9.7% vs 5.2%); over half (51.5%) reported technology-related sleep disruption. Harm prevalence varied meaningfully by platform.
Small pilot sample (n=472 from 47 states) limits precision of platform-level estimates; self-reported outcomes are subject to recall and social desirability bias; cross-sectional design prevents causal inference about platform-specific harms.
Clinicians should routinely ask adolescents about online experiences—especially exposure to violent or sexual content and technology-related sleep loss—as these harms are common and vary by platform. Screening conversations can mirror public health risk monitoring frameworks already familiar to pediatric practice.
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