Smartphones affect youth interaction

YOUNG people have spent 20,000 fewer hours interacting with friends and family in person before their 18th birthday thanks to their addiction to smartphones, a shocking new study has found.

The tally by brain research group Sapien Labs has been linked to a rapid decline in youth mental health.

Before the internet, young people spent up to 25,000 hours interacting with peers and family by their 18th birthday, Sapien chief scientist Tara Thiagarajan said. But the rise of the internet has reduced this to less than 5000 hours.

Sapien Labs surveyed more than 48,800 people in eight English-speaking countries, including 3694 participants in Australia, for its Mental State of the World Report 2021.

Before 2010, when smartphones were introduced, studies showed that young adults had the highest levels of psychological wellbeing, Ms Thiagarajan said. Since then, mental wellbeing has been declining with each younger generation, the study found.

“Data shows that people now spend 7-10 hours online,” Ms Thiagarajan said. “This leaves little time for in-person social engagement.”