A new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine reports stronger links between screen use and mental health issues among adolescents in the United States.
Researchers analyzed data for a year from more than 8,000 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, which tracks brain development and child health in 11- and 12-year-olds. The results showed that addictive or “problematic screen use” was associated with higher risks of depression, sleep disturbance, substance use, attention deficit, and oppositional defiance.
Lead investigator Jason M. Nagata, MD, in an interview, explained how experts define “problematic screen use”.
“Problematic screen use is when kids can’t control their time online, even if they try, and it starts to cause stress, conflicts, or problems at school or home. It can also lead to withdrawal-like feelings, needing more time online to feel satisfied, and repeated relapses, much like other addictive behaviors.”
The findings come at a critical developmental stage for young adolescents, as screen use rises sharply during this period. This is also when mental health challenges often first appear in this age group. In the U.S., an estimated 49.5% of adolescents have experienced mental illness, prompting U.S. Surgeon General to issue a 2023 advisory on youth mental health and social media use.
The debate over social media’s harms is not new. In 2017, social scientist Jean Twenge wrote “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” arguing that adolescent mental health declined as smartphones became widespread.
Social psychologist and author, Jonathan Haidt summarizes Twenge’s work in a Substack article saying, “In it, she showed a historical correlation: adolescent behavior changed, and their mental health collapsed just at the point in time when they traded in their flip phones for smartphones with always-available social media.”
Haidt continues, “She also showed a correlation relevant to the product safety question: The kids who spend the most time on screens (especially for social media) are the ones with the worst mental health. She concluded that ‘it’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen [Gen Z] as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.’”
Although research is ringing new alarm bells for parents in terms of social media, Nagata cautions, “Not all screen time is harmful. The real risk comes when use becomes addictive or problematic, when kids can’t stop, feel stressed if they don’t use it, or it starts to disrupt sleep, mood, or daily life.”
