Translated with AI
Children who got a smartphone before they turned 13 are significantly more likely to experience anxiety, alienation and suicidal thoughts as adults, according to a new global study involving more than 100,000 teenagers from 163 countries and territories, the BBC reports.
The authors of the article, published on the basis of this work in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, express serious concerns about the mental health of the younger generation due to the fact that too early access of a child to a smartphone can lead to serious disturbances in his (or her) fragile psyche.
Moreover, an analysis of the data studied (all participants were between 18 and 24 years old) reveals a direct relationship: the earlier a child receives a smartphone, the higher the likelihood that he or she will begin to have mental health problems at a young age.
“The most severe consequences are observed among those who received a smartphone before the age of 13,” writes the lead author of the study, professor Tara Thyagarajan of the American think tank Sapien Labs. “This is especially true for girls: they have higher levels of anxiety, a feeling of detachment from reality, and sometimes suicidal thoughts.”
The mental health status of young people was assessed using the MHQ (Mind Health Quotient) index, which takes into account the level of emotional, cognitive and social functions.
For those who got a smartphone at age 13, the average MHQ score was around 30. For those who started using a phone at age five or six, it dropped to almost zero.
These differences are especially noticeable among women: among girls who started using a smartphone at the age of five or six, pronounced suicidal thoughts were recorded in almost half (48%) – while in the group of those who received a phone only at the age of 13, they were recorded almost twice as rarely: in almost every fourth (28%). However, among young men, the difference between these two indicators is also quite noticeable (31% versus 20%).
What exactly worsens a child's mental health?
The main factor, the authors claim, is children's access not to the device itself, but through it to social networks, including those operating on the basis of artificial intelligence algorithms. A child's too early introduction to the Internet is the cause of approximately 40% of all mental health problems among young people, including cases of online bullying (cyberbullying), various sleep disorders, and weakening of family ties.
In countries with English-speaking cultures – such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia – the situation seems most alarming. There, the average age for a child to get a smartphone is just 11, and the influence of social media explains up to 70% of subsequent mental disorders, especially in girls.
The study highlights that despite formal age restrictions, digital platforms are failing to effectively block content and are accessible to children under 13.
What measures are proposed?
The study's authors urge legislators to introduce a series of restrictive measures similar to those established to regulate the sale of alcohol or tobacco. Namely:
mandatory digital hygiene training as part of the school curriculum;
strict age verification of users on digital platforms;
a strict ban on access to any social networks for children under 13 years of age;
development of the market for alternative devices (“children’s” phones without access to social networks and the Internet).
"Technology is advancing much faster than laws can be written and passed," Professor Thyagarajan emphasizes. "We propose to act proactively, based on the principle of 'better safe than sorry.'
The authorities of some countries have long been trying to find a legislative solution to the problem of children's excessively early access to smartphones and social networks.
In France, smartphones are banned in primary and secondary schools.
China has ordered popular digital platforms to limit the amount of time children and teenagers spend in front of screens.
Several US states are discussing bills on mandatory age verification for users and liability for companies for the content they publish.
At the same time, the authors of the study emphasize that individual measures, carried out by parents alone, will not solve the global problem.
Without a systematic approach, scientists say, the future generation risks growing up emotionally vulnerable and socially disoriented.
