Teenage girls would rather listen to influencers than doctors
19 August 2026
Jonas Roslund
Influencer’s personal stories about mental illness meet a need among teenage girls that conventional healthcare does not fulfil. This is the conclusion of researchers at Linköping University in a study involving interviews with girls at upper secondary school. But the girls are also critical of how influencers contribute to making poor mental health seem expected.
Photographer:
Anna Nilsen
Professor Anette Wickström och universitetslektor Judith Lind.
“It’s striking what a big role influencers who talk about mental health problems have come to play. Despite having no training, they have become educators through their own stories and because the media and organisations working with mental health give them legitimacy,” says Professor Anette Wickström at the Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies at Linköping University.
A total of 38 girls aged 16–17 were interviewed about how they interpret the messages in various video clips from four influencers who frequently talk about their own mental health problems and offer advice to their followers. The influencers were selected on the basis of the type of content the girls themselves said they often watched. The results have been published in the journals Childhood and Nordisk tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning.
Closeness and trust
The girls interviewed liked being able to relate to the stories and felt that the influencers were making an important contribution by talking openly about mental health problems. They found the personal stories informative and felt they created a sense of closeness and trust in the influencer. At the same time, the girls had greater confidence in doctors and psychologists when it came to advice on how to manage their health.
The researchers conclude that influencers offer something that healthcare services fail to provide: a sense of conversation and support. The influencer is always available and speaks from personal experience. “You’d rather listen to an influencer than a doctor,” says one of the girls in the study.
But the girls were also aware that influencers are advertising platforms who use their personal stories to attract large numbers of followers and thereby secure commercial partnerships with different companies. Being an influencer is a job. It just mustn’t be too obvious. If it is, the girls push back.
Anna Nilsen
Professor Anette Wickström and Associate Professor Judith Lind.Critical but forgiving
“The sense of authenticity takes a knock if the commercial side takes over. But there is also a very forgiving attitude if it’s an influencer you’ve followed for many years. Then the girls weren’t as critical,” says Associate Professor Judith Lind, also at the Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies at Linköping University.
Although the girls felt it was good that the influencers talked openly about mental health problems, they could also see the downsides. For example, they felt that this could create a kind of expectation that young girls should have mental problems. They also saw a danger in the influencers overusing words such as anxiety and depression. At the same time, however, the interviewees strongly emphasised that everyone has the right to define how they themselves are feeling.
Nor did the girls feel that the influencers have any particular responsibility for how others are affected by their message. If the content affects someone negatively, it is up to them to avoid it. The researchers argue that this reflects a contemporary view of mental health in which individuals are held responsible for their own wellbeing.
Young people's voices
Studies of social media in which young people themselves are given a voice are uncommon. Research instead often focuses on measuring negative effects such as sleep problems and eating disorders. But, according to the researchers, it is important to provide a more nuanced picture, particularly when so much of the public debate centres on bans and restrictions. Young people are not merely passive recipients, but are also active, reflective and critical.
“It’s incredibly important to understand both sides, otherwise we can never help young people deal with the internet and social media,” says Anette Wickström.
The research was funded by Forte (the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare). Anette Wickström and Judith Lind are now continuing their work with a similar project focusing on teenage boys and mental health.
Anna Nilsen
