Early smartphone access harms developing minds, study warns
July 22 (UPI) -- Care about your kid's well being?
Then best not give them a smartphone until they're a full-fledged teenager, a major new study says.
Kids given a smartphone when they were younger than 13 tend to have poorer mental health and well-being, researchers report in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.
Specifically, people between 18 and 24 who got their first smartphone at 12 or younger had higher odds of suicidal thoughts, aggression, detachment from reality, poorer emotional regulation and low self-worth, researchers report.
Early exposure to toxic social media explains much of the link between young smartphone access and poorer mental health, researchers said. Other contributing factors may include cyberbullying, disrupted sleep and poor family relationships.
"Our data indicate that early smartphone ownership- and the social media access it often brings - is linked with a profound shift in mind health and wellbeing in early adulthood," says lead researcher Tara Thiagarajan, chief scientist of Sapien Labs, said in a news release.
"I was initially surprised by how strong the results are," she said. "However, when you give it due consideration, it does begin to make sense that the younger developing mind is more compromised by the online environment given their vulnerability and lack of worldly experience."
For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 100,000 young adults around the world as part of the Global Mind Project, an ongoing research effort aimed at assessing the effects of modern society on mental health.
Each of the participants filled out a questionnaire to help determine their Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) - a measurement of their social, emotional, cognitive and physical well-being.
The team focused on members of Generation Z born between 1997 and 2012 who were the first to grow up with smartphones and social media from early childhood.
Results show that young adults who got their first smartphone before becoming teens had lower MHQ scores than those who got a phone later.
In addition, the younger a person got their first smartphone, the worse their mental health and overall well-being, researchers said.
For example, about half (48%) of girls who got a smartphone at age 5 or 6 report suicidal thoughts, compared with 28% who got a smartphone at 13, the study says.
Girls who got smartphones at a young age were more likely to have diminished self-image, self-worth and confidence, as well as less emotional resilience, researchers found.
Meanwhile, boys were more likely to have lower stability, self-worth and empathy.
Looking into potential causes, researchers found that early access to social media explains about 40% of the link between earlier smartphone ownership and poorer mental health in young adulthood.
The results bolster growing concerns regarding how AI-driven social media algorithms amplify harmful content and encourage children to compare their lives to those of apparently happier and better-off influencers, researchers argue.
Poor family relationships (13%), disrupted sleep (12%) and cyberbullying (10%) also contributed to the link, the study says.
"Based on these findings, and with the age of first smartphones now well under age 13 across the world, we urge policymakers to adopt a precautionary approach, similar to regulations on alcohol and tobacco, by restricting smartphone access for under 13s, mandating digital literacy education and enforcing corporate accountability," Thiagarajan said.
Several countries have already banned or restricted cell phone use in schools, including France, the Netherlands, Italy and New Zealand, researchers noted.
In the U.S., Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and West Virginia have passed legislation requiring schools to limit or ban smartphones, researchers added.
"Our evidence suggests childhood smartphone ownership, an early gateway into AI-powered digital environments, is profoundly diminishing mind health and well-being in adulthood with deep consequences for individual agency and societal flourishing," Thiagarajan said.
"That said, I think it is also important to point out that smartphones and social media are not the only assault to mental health and crisis facing younger adults," she said. "It explains some of the overall decline but not all of it."
The study can't draw a direct cause-and-effect link between early smartphone access and poorer mental health as a young adult, researchers noted. More research is needed to confirm this link and explore its causes.
"Now, while more research is needed to unravel the causal mechanisms, waiting for irrefutable proof in the face of these population-level findings unfortunately risks missing the window for timely, preventative action," Thiagarajan said.
More information
Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on social media and children's mental health.
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
4 hours ago
- UPI
State Department to burn birth control worth $9.7M meant for poor nations
The U.S. government plans to destroy $9.7 million of contraceptives for poor nations, mainly in Africa, after the nation "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction." UPI file photo | License Photo July 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. government plans to destroy a stockpile of contraceptives worth $9.7 million for poor nations, mainly in Africa, after the State Department "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction." The contraceptives include nearly 2 million doses of injectables, 900,000 implantable devices and more than 2 million oral packets, according to internal auditing in April obtained by The Washington Post. Chelsea Polis, a researcher with Guttsmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, told the newspaper that the contraceptives could provide more than 650,000 women with pregnancy protection for up to one year and 950,000 women for three years. U.S. laws and rules prohibit sending U.S. aid to organizations that provide abortion services, counsel about the procedure or advocate for the right overseas. "The State Department confirms that a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain abortifacient birth control commodities from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal. No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." The destruction will cost $167,000, the spokesperson said. Most contraceptives have less than 70% of shelf life before expiration, the spokesperson said. The Guardian contacted an aide who visited the warehouse in Belgium and found the earliest expiration date was 2027. Two-thirds didn't have any labels. Belgium, the United Nations and humanitarian groups said they unsuccessfully stopped the destruction plans for the contraceptives. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump disbanded and merged into the State Department, was to have distributed them. They are part of a $9.5 billion program over 10 years to provide aid to more than 40 nations. The government said it based its decision on a policy that restricts funding for reproductive-related actions in the Mexico City Policy and the Kemp-Kasten amendment. President Ronald Reagan instituted the policy in 1985 and it has become a political issue. It has rescinded by Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republicans several times, including by President Donald Trump when he returned to office in January. A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators doesn't want the contraceptives to be destroyed, including Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. "This is a waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars and an abdication of U.S. global leadership in preventing unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths," said Shaheen, who in June sent a letter to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the matter. The U.N. Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation were interested in receiving the contraceptives. "UNFPA was in conversation with Chemonics about purchasing the contraceptives but didn't receive an answer from them," UNFPA spokesman Eddie Wright said. "It's the height of hypocrisy for a government to preach efficiency and cutting waste, only to turn around and recklessly destroy lifesaving supplies when the need has never been greater," Micah Grzywnowicz, regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network, said in a statement MSI Reproductive Choices offered to pay for shipping and repackaging. MSI provides abortion services. "The complete dismantling of the world's largest donor for international family planning has been a catastrophe for the global supply chain of contraceptives," said Sarah Shaw, associate director of advocacy and for the organization. Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an increase in teen births, according to a study at Columbia University in 2024. The number of births climbed from 4.5 million births in 2000 to 6.1 million in 2021as they decreased in the rest of the world. In Africa, 30% of all woman use birth control but more than half would use it if available, according to DebboAfrica, a healthcare company for African women. Worldwide, around half of women of reproductive age of 15-19 use some form of contraception, according to Focus2030. Foreign aid cuts could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2023, including two-thirds children, according to a study published in Lancet earlier this month. Congress earlier this month passed legislation to remove $8 billion in foreign assistance. The Atlantic reported earlier this month that 551 tons of emergency food were expiring and will be incinerated rather than being fed to almost 1.5 million children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Almost 800,000 Mpox vaccines to be sent to Africa also are not usable because they are past their expiration date, Politico reported earlier this month.
UPI
8 hours ago
- UPI
SpaceX launches 24 satellites to polar areas to boost internet access
1 of 2 | SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Saturday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, Calif. Photo courtesy of SpaceX July 27 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Saturday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, Calif. The mission put 24 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. It will deploy the satellites into a polar orbit to boost internet service in polar regions. The Starlink 17-2 mission launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 9:31 p.m. PDT. The Falcon 9 ship with tail number B1075 took its 19th trip to space, including 16 Starlink missions. About 8 1/2 minutes after liftoff, the ship landed on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You," in the Pacific Ocean. It was the 142nd landing for this vessel and the 481st booster landing for SpaceX. There are more than 8,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell. On Thursday, Starlink users reported a rare full network outage of internet service. It began at 4 p.m. About 2 1/2 hours later, SpaceX announced most service had been restored. Then, 1 1/2 hours later, full service was back, Starlink reported.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
NASA crew readies for ISS mission launch on Thursday
July 26 (UPI) -- An international crew of four is readying for Thursday's planned launch of a NASA mission to the International Space Station after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency specialist Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will travel from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A to the ISS while aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour. Cardman is the mission's leader. The crew landed at Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility at 1:12 EDT after leaving from Houston on Saturday morning. "We are absolutely joyed to be here at Kennedy Space Center," Cardman said upon the crew's landing. "This is the first moment when it's really starting to feel real," she said. "This is the beginning of a week when things will feel progressively more and more real as we approach our launch." Mission pilot Fincke said the mission gives him another chance to fly aboard a spacecraft named Endeavour. "One of the last times I landed at the [Florida launch and landing facility] was on space shuttle Endeavour," Fincke told media. "Now we get to go on another endeavor - a Dragon Endeavour," he said. The Endeavour name honors the HMS Endeavour, which British Capt. James Cook used to explore and chart the South Pacific from 1768 to 1771. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the Endeavor into low Earth orbit, which will make the Crew Dragon spacecraft the most flown among SpaceX's fleet. Thursday's launch is scheduled at 12:09 p.m. EDT and would enable the Endeavor to dock at the ISS on Aug. 2 if the launch occurs as planned. The four crew members will join Expedition 73, which already is at the ISS. An Expedition 74 crew is scheduled to replace the Expedition 73 crew while the Crew 11 team is at the ISS. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
