Purpose

This paper introduces the DECODE framework, a conceptual model for understanding how memetic saturation, cognitive overload, emotional exhaustion, and relational disconnection contribute to adolescent mental health challenges in digital environments. By synthesizing insights from memetic theory, cognitive-emotional regulation, and library science, the framework positions public libraries as epistemic moderators capable of fostering digital discernment, resilience, and dialogue. The study’s aim is not to test causal hypotheses but to provide an abductively derived, theory-building structure that informs future empirical work and offers actionable strategies for librarians, educators, and policymakers navigating the adolescent mental health crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a critical-realist, abductive methodology that iteratively integrates descriptive survey patterns, peer-reviewed empirical findings, and theoretical constructs. Publicly available datasets (CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2023; Pew Research Center’s Teens, Social Media and Mental Health 2025) are used illustratively to anchor theoretical insights, rather than as sources for causal inference. Through exploratory thematic grouping and abductive triangulation, five patterns of adolescent digital experience are mapped onto six response pillars of the DECODE framework. This abductive scaffolding process yields a provisional, testable conceptual model that both explains observed trends and generates propositions for future empirical and cross-cultural validation.

Findings

Analysis of national survey patterns and peer-reviewed evidence identified five thematic patterns: Digital Immersion and Memetic Saturation, Cognitive Overload, Emotional Exhaustion, Relational Disconnection, and Emergent Risks and Adaptive Coping. These patterns correspond directly to DECODE’s six pillars: Defend and Define, Expose Memes, Cross-Check Sources, Organize Context, Document and Disseminate, and Engage Dialogue. Together, they illustrate how algorithmically curated content environments amplify adolescent distress, while libraries and civic spaces can act as epistemic moderators. The findings suggest that resilience lies not in restricting access but in cultivating cognitive and social capacities for discernment, contextualization, and dialogue in digital environments.

Research limitations/implications

This study is conceptual rather than hypothesis-testing, using descriptive survey summaries as illustrative anchors. While this approach highlights converging patterns, it cannot establish causal pathways or quantify effect sizes. The abductive design emphasizes theory generation, leaving empirical validation to future research. Cross-sectional survey data also limit temporal insights into digital saturation’s cumulative effects. Nevertheless, the DECODE framework identifies clear mechanisms and intervention points, providing testable propositions for future studies. Future research should employ longitudinal, experimental, and cross-cultural methods to evaluate and refine the framework’s propositions, ensuring both robustness and broader generalizability across diverse youth populations.

Practical implications

The DECODE framework provides actionable strategies for libraries, educators, and civic organizations seeking to support adolescent well-being in digital contexts. Each pillar translates into practical interventions: setting digital boundaries (Defend and Define), fostering media literacy (Expose Memes), teaching verification skills (Cross-Check Sources), curating contextual knowledge (Organize Context), promoting reflective practices (Document and Disseminate), and creating spaces for dialogue (Engage Dialogue). These strategies can be integrated into library programming, classroom curricula, and community initiatives, offering scalable and evidence-informed approaches to counteracting memetic saturation and cognitive overload while strengthening resilience, critical thinking, and social connectedness among young people.

Social implications

The study addresses pressing societal challenges: adolescent mental health, digital polarization, and the erosion of civic trust in a memetic media environment. By positioning libraries as epistemic moderators, the DECODE framework underscores the importance of accessible, trusted public institutions in buffering digital harms. Implementing DECODE’s pillars can strengthen community dialogue, reduce the spread of manipulative narratives, and foster healthier patterns of information consumption. More broadly, the framework offers a civic roadmap for reintroducing collective sense-making into fragmented media ecologies, promoting not only youth well-being but also more informed, resilient, and socially connected democratic societies.

Originality/value

This article is among the first to link memetic theory, cognitive-emotional regulation, and library science into a unified conceptual framework for addressing adolescent digital distress. Unlike existing models that focus narrowly on screen time or platform regulation, DECODE foregrounds the interplay of memetic saturation, cognitive overload, and relational disconnection while highlighting libraries’ overlooked civic role. Its abductive methodology generates testable propositions and actionable pillars, offering both theoretical innovation and practical pathways for intervention. The framework’s originality lies in reimagining libraries not just as information providers but as active epistemic moderators in the digital age’s mental health crisis.