Adolescent time spent on technology not associated with their mental health

What is it about?

Parents and the public are worried that adolescents' frequent use of smartphones and other technologies is harming their mental health. We tested whether earlier access to and use of mobile phones and social media impacted later mental health, and found that they were not related. We also tested whether days on which teens spend more time on technology are days when they experience more mental health symptoms, and did not find evidence that this was the case.

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Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash

Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash

Why is it important?

In the modern, digitally-connected, era, there is widespread concern about technology use harming youth mental health. Our results suggest that this concern may be misplaced, as our study does not show longitudinal or daily linkages between early adolescent technology use and mental health.