The parallel progression of technological advancement brings with it the question of what price this development comes at. According to a new global study published in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, the use of smartphones by children under the age of 13 may seriously harm their mental health.
The study, based on self-reported data from nearly 2 million individuals across 163 countries, reveals that children who started using smartphones before the age of 13 are more prone to suicidal ideation, problems with emotional regulation, low self-esteem, and detachment from reality.
Medscriptum conducted an interview with the study’s author, Tara Thiagarajan, who speaks in more detail about how early smartphone use affects the mental health of adolescents. Tara is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and the founder and chief scientist of Sapien Labs, as well as the driving force behind Madura Microfinance, an organization that helps economically disadvantaged women in India.
An Interview with Neuroscientist Tara Thiagarajan
Your research shows a clear correlation between smartphone use at an early age and a decline in mental health. Can you explain the psychological mechanisms behind this trend?
The research findings show that using a smartphone at an early age is linked to social media use, which significantly increases the risk of cyberbullying, disrupts sleep patterns, and ultimately harms a teenager’s social relationships. These factors can negatively affect a child’s mental health. However, it was found that these reasons alone cannot fully explain the issue, and other deeper factors, such as the consumption of violent or intimate content at an early age, also have a significant impact.
Why are adolescents particularly vulnerable to mental health problems caused by screen exposure?
The negative impact of the virtual world on children is not only explained by screen exposure. The problem lies elsewhere:
Negative influences of the virtual world on children are not solely due to screen time. The main problem is that when children under 13 have access to the internet, they are at a higher risk of being exposed to inappropriate content, such as violence or pornography. Additionally, social media is often full of negative video/photo content and hate speech, which has a detrimental effect on them.
Since children use smartphones, they have less time for face-to-face communication. All of this hinders the development of social skills. Children who use smartphones from an early age find it difficult to perceive emotions and body language, which creates obstacles in their social interactions. As a result, they may have a hard time connecting with others and may have a less active social life in adulthood compared to previous generations.
According to our research, in the pre-internet era, children spent over 20,000 hours socializing before reaching adulthood, while children in the smartphone era spend less than 5,000 hours on social interactions.
In Georgia and many other developing countries, young people face serious mental health problems. However, due to limited economic resources and a low level of public awareness, many are left without psychological assistance. In your opinion, how does virtual reality-induced stress affect vulnerable groups in developing countries?
The effects of digital exposure on adolescents may be similar regardless of a country’s economic development. However, additional socio-economic factors certainly exacerbate the harmful effects of virtual reality. In any case, policies aimed at limiting digital exposure during adolescence that are focused on the well-being of children will reduce the need for psychological assistance.
Your research links low self-esteem and emotional instability to smartphone use, but also points to fundamental causes such as cyberbullying, disrupted sleep patterns, and social stress. How can these multi-layered challenges be practically solved in developing countries where a sustainable mental health treatment system does not exist?
Cyberbullying, disrupted sleep patterns, and social stress can be caused by smartphone use from an early age, as well as other external factors. The best way to address these problems is through prevention – even the most comprehensive mental health system cannot solve the problem if it does not aim to eliminate the root causes.
Many parents feel trapped in a digital system they can’t control: schools require app-based communication, children interact online, and telecommunications companies aggressively advertise smartphone use from an early age. As a neuroscientist, what would you tell parents who feel helpless in this environment? What practical advice can you give them to overcome this challenge?
The best solution is a decision made at the level of government policy. Many countries are considering banning smartphones for children under 13, but this will, of course, take time. Until such changes come into force, I would advise parents to do the following:
- request your child’s school to implement a policy that bans smartphones from the educational institution.
- Spend more time communicating with your child face-to-face without a phone – they will imitate your behavior. If you are constantly glued to your phone, you cannot set a good example of healthy behavior for your child.
- Before you give them a phone, talk to them about how to be polite online, how to upload content, how to avoid cyberbullying, and how to recognize phishing.
- Block certain apps on their smartphone to limit their access to violent and pornographic content.
- Regularly talk to them about what they do online and ask them to show you what sites they visit.
In countries like Georgia, mental health remains a stigma, and institutional support is minimal. Do you think that similar global studies can help with policy development at the state level in regions where child psychology is not yet given due attention?
The majority of mental health problems are caused by environmental factors: the content people consume, family relationships, and the food and chemical substances they ingest. Our research aims to understand these causes in order to develop policies that will create a healthier environment and reduce mental health-related problems in society.
Is it enough to just teach children how to use smartphones properly to reduce the risks associated with their use from an early age?
Absolutely not. The prefrontal cortex starts developing in childhood. Humans only reach full maturity and impulse control around the ages of 20-25. Children are also curious, and something they’ve seen once (for example, pornography or violence) cannot be erased from their memory. For instance, we don’t give cars to very young children with only the instruction to drive carefully; similarly, we don’t give them drugs and ask them to use them responsibly. The same applies to smartphones.
You are recommending that the use of smartphones and social media for children should be restricted. What practical steps can the government or schools take to effectively implement these recommendations?
The primary challenge with these prohibitions is the enforcement mechanism. On a governmental level, social media companies should be required to verify a user’s real age before allowing them to register on the platform, rather than simply having a checkbox where the user confirms they have reached a certain age. Significant fines should also be imposed for violations. Additionally, mechanisms could be created to detect and flag content that would prevent children from accessing certain sites.
When a school imposes a smartphone ban, this prohibition should be accompanied by specific consequences. For example, if a student is found with a phone on campus, it should be confiscated.
Finally, what role should technology companies play in protecting children in countries where regulations are weak or nonexistent? Should international guidelines be established, or should change start at the local level??
I don’t think technology companies will start to care about protecting children on their own initiative, if there is no regulating law. Changes must start as a result of pressure from the public.
