Problematic smartphone use in teens linked to anxiety and depression, studies find

Teenagers who report problematic smartphone use are more likely to have anxiety, depression or insomnia, according to two new studies.

In one study, published in Acta Paediatrica, the researchers form King’s College London looked at smartphone use in 657 teenagers aged between 16 and 18. The young people were based in three areas: London, East Midlands and South West England. In the other, published in BMJ Mental Health, they looked at smartphone use among 69 children aged between 13 and 16. The participants were all based in London.

In both studies, the questionnaire was developed in conjunction with young people to make sure the questions could be easily understood. For the study among older teens, the researchers write that the questionnaire “consisted of a balance of positive and negative questions about smartphone technology, as well as participant demographics, smartphone usage and widely used validated instruments on anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms and insomnia.”

They found that 18.7% of 16-to-18-year-olds and 14.5 % of 13-to-16-year-olds self-reported problematic smartphone use. “Problematic” use does not necessarily equate to time spent looking at a phone screen.

“Problematic smartphone use is a construct that researchers have come up with to describe a pattern of smartphone use, which shares some similarities to the way other people would talk about their behavioural addictions for things like problem gambling,” said Dr Nicola Kalk, visiting senior lecturer at King’s College London and study author.

She added: “So the features it shares are subject to loss of control over use, primacy of the smartphone in their life so that they’re spending time on their smartphone in preference to other meaningful activities or sleep, that they continue doing this despite an awareness of the downsides, that they feel a real sense of dysphoria or distress if they can’t be near their smartphone or use their smartphone, and are finding that they’re spending increasing amounts of time on their smartphone to get the same reward.”

One in eight wanted help to cut down on smartphone usage

In the study of 16-18 year olds, those teenagers reporting problematic smartphone use were twice as likely to experience anxiety and three times as likely to suffer from depression as those who did not have problematic use.

One in eight (12.5%) reported wanting help to cut down their use. A desire for help to cut down was five times greater in those with problematic use compared to those without.

The study of teenagers aged between 13 and 16 found that nearly half of those with problematic use reported anxiety and more than half reported symptoms of depression.

“We found that problematic smartphone use was linked with anxiety, depression, and insomnia across two separate adolescent age groups using two different research methods,” Ben Carter, a professor of medical statistics at King’s College London and first author of both studies.

“By revealing the link between problematic use of smartphones and poorer mental health, and demonstrating that young people are aware of this problem and are eager to manage their use, these studies highlight the need for evidence-based interventions to help adolescents struggling with difficult behaviours around their smartphone use,” he added.

There was a distinction between problematic use and screen time. The number of minutes spent on a phone was not associated with anxiety or depression in older teenagers but was associated with insomnia.

If parents want to curb their teenage children’s smartphone use, Kalk recommends sitting down with their children to discuss the issue and develop healthy usage habits in the home together.

Both studies found that teenagers want to spend less time on their phones and most reported having tried to limit their use. “The good news is that adolescents are reflective and insightful about their use – they understand that smartphones bring downsides as well as benefits,” Kalk said.