Are smartphones making young people unhappy?
Anew US research has added to the growing body of evidence that technology could be affecting our mental health, finding that teenagers who spend a large amount of time on their smartphone are more likely to be unhappy.
Carried out by researchers from the San Diego State University and the University of Georgia, USA, the study gathered data from surveys of 1.1 million 8th, 10th, and 12th graders who were asked about how much time they spent on their digital devices and their real-life social interactions.
On average, those who spent more time in front of screen devices, for example texting friends, playing computer games or using social media, reported being less happy than those who spent more time partaking in non-screen activities such as sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-toface social interaction.
Lead author Jean M. Twenge commented on the findings saying that an increase in screen time is the likely cause of this unhappiness, adding that, “Although this study can’t show causation, several other studies have shown that the use of more social media leads to unhappiness, but unhappiness does not lead to more social media use.”
“By far the largest change in teens’ lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the subsequent decline in social activities and sleep,” she said.
However, quitting digital media altogether also doesn’t seem to be the answer, with the team finding that those who spent a small amount of time in front of a screen — a little less than an hour a day — were actually the happiest. It was after this daily hour of screen time that unhappiness levels steadily rose.
“The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use,” Twenge said, adding further, “Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and increase the amount of time you spend seeing friends face-to-face.”