Your kid’s smartphone isn’t causing anxiety or depression.
Mental health at any age is a serious matter. When it comes to the teenage years, it’s no different.
Recent studies have shown that a small but significant portion of children and teens suffer from mental health problems. These include such things as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other illnesses of the mind.
Experts aren’t entirely sure what causes problems for some and not for others. Some experts say it’s genetics, while others have pointed to the time teens spend on screens as a strong contributing factor. To be specific, a post on Time.com in 2018 detailed how teens who spend seven hours or more each day on screens are twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.
But a new study is now contradicting this. Work done at the University of California – Irvine showed that increased screen time doesn’t necessarily equate with poorer mental health.
The study looked at the habits and mental state of more than 2,000 youth from a range of economic and racial backgrounds attending public school in North Carolina.
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The teens were asked to report on their daily technology use and their mental wellness daily for two weeks.
Contrary to previous findings, researchers found a surprise. Teens who texted more often were actually found to report feeling less depressed than those who texted less often.
To be fair, “screen time” involves more than just texting, but it’s worth taking a look. These researchers said it could be a general lack of support that can cause teens to fail, both mentally and emotionally.
“It may be time for adults to stop arguing over whether smartphones and social media are good or bad for teens’ mental health and start figuring out ways to best support them in both their offline and online lives,” said Candice Odgers, professor of psychological science at the University of California.
I agree. Let’s put it this way. Any teen who has seven hours a day to spend watching movies, playing video games, surfing the net or chatting on social networks can’t have too much else going on in their life. There’s just school work and time spent online. They’re missing out. There’s a lot of potential support that can be felt when engaging in activities such as extra curriculars that involve coaches and teachers, and family activities that can improve social skills and trust, and build a positive emotional state.
If your kid were spending long hours wandering alone in an open field for hours each day, they may feel just as disconnected as they could spending all their extra time on their phone, tablet or laptop. Get involved.
For more on this study, click here.
