Major study links early smartphone ownership to youth mental health risks

My son was blithely scrolling through Tik Tok in the lounge room when he saw a horrific self-harm video. That was essentially our first and last brush with the dark side of social media, writes Ann Wason Moore.

Major study links early smartphone ownership to youth mental health risks. Photo by David Gray / AFP

I can pinpoint the day that childhood ended for my kids.

It was the moment they owned a phone.

Thank goodness we made them wait until high school - although I’m hardly holding myself up as some parental paragon of technological virtue as for years prior they had ‘borrowed’ my own phone or tablet.

In fact, they earned their phone ‘Ls’ via their own tablet, but the difference between iPad and iPhone was remarkable.

As soon as they were issued that first phone number (not that anyone uses or even knows it), something changed.

Unlike a tablet, it became their constant companion - and yes, we had plenty of rules but somehow they circumnavigated almost all … or wore us down with their whinging.

I’m not saying this heralded a harmful new era, they have actually managed to get through the teen tech years with minimal damage, but it marked the point where they transformed from chatty kids to screen-obsessed teens.

Smartphones harm kids' mental health, new research shows. Photo by David GRAY / AFP

Our worst moment was when my son was blithely scrolling through TikTok in the lounge room, just metres away from me, when he saw a horrific self-harm video.

Just one hour later, warnings were issued across media sites to alert parents, but the damage was already done in our household.

He had only just received his phone and TikTok was immediately deleted, at that time we barely knew what it was.

While he was legitimately traumatised for a few weeks after that event, he recovered his equilibrium and that was essentially our first and last brush with the dark side of social media.

However, it highlighted how suddenly - and frighteningly - his world shifted once the phone arrived

So I completely understand the reasons behind Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, although I admit I am relieved my children are past that age and free from the restrictions. I’m too tired to argue.

Looking back, I don’t have any regrets about when we allowed them to have social media, but I do wish we had pushed back that first phone by another year.

Yes, I would have had to endure endless complaints, but it was such a marked moment of change in the household.

One in which our kids withdrew ever so slightly from the family circle and turned to the world inside their phone.

Perhaps that would have happened anyway - after all, that first device coincided with the start of their teen years - but science now shows the very real effects of early access to smartphones.

Research shows higher incidences of depression and insufficient sleep among children 12 years old and under who have smartphones.

Results published just this week from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which analysed data from more than 10,000 adolescents across the USA and is the largest long-term study of brain development and child health, show that owning a smartphone during early adolescence was associated with increased risks of mental health issues and obesity.

Researchers from Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University found higher incidences of depression and insufficient sleep among children who owned smartphones by ages 12 or younger, compared with other kids without the devices.

“We didn’t even look at what the kids did on the phone,” said Ran Barzilay, the lead author of the study and a child psychiatrist with the Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“We basically asked one simple question: does the mere factor of having one’s own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?”

That answer was yes.

Interestingly, access to other technological devices like tablets or iPads did not seem to have the same detrimental associations on child health.

So as this social media ban looms, one of its greatest benefits could very well be that it dials down demand for smartphones.

Without being able to access these apps, will kids still want the device so desperately?

To be honest, there is still plenty on those screens to steal their attention, especially given that gaming platforms like Roblox, Discord and Steam will still be available - even despite safety concerns.

But maybe we can somehow convince them to be happy with an old-school dumb phone?

We just have to hope they’re not smart enough to realise what they’re missing out on.

Follow @CrysalFoxJour1

Originally published as Major study links early smartphone ownership to youth mental health risks