Digital Influencers and Children and Youth Well-Being

This book offers a pioneering exploration of how digital influencers are shaping body perceptions and affecting the physical and emotional well-being of children and adolescents in the digital age. Bringing together media and communication studies, psychology, advertising, and youth studies, the volume analyzes influencer ecologies that span fitfluencers, kidfluencers, microinfluencers, and AI-generated virtual personas, and traces their effects on body image, mental health, consumer socialization, and digital well-being. Bringing together chapters written by researchers from different countries – Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United States – this contributed volume analyzes how content produced by digital influencers about mental health, physical exercises, food consumption, physical appearance and body image impact children’s and adolescents health and well-being in the real world. The volume concludes with evidence-informed guidance for educators, families, platforms, and policymakers, emphasizing disclosure standards, protections for minors, and AI and media literacy to support more livable digital environments. Digital Influencers and Children and Youth Well-Being will be of interest to researchers from various disciplines, such as health, developmental and social psychology; public health; education; and media and communication studies. It will also be a valuable tool for psychologists, educators, social workers and public health professionals directly working with children and adolescents or involved with the formulation and implementation of public policies for these age groups.