Is Screen Time Making Your Teen Depressed?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Teen depression rates continue to rise, and people are wondering if increased screen time is to blame.
Depression rates have risen 50% in the past decade, and “the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA)…cites that eight million teens between ages 12 to 17 are now getting counseling, medication, or other treatments for mental health,” Breitbart reported.
Several studies have pointed to social media and screen time as the possible culprit. The American Academy of Pediatrics stated in 2015 that over two hours of screen time per day “can make toddlers almost eight times more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by the time they turn five.”
Other studies have pointed toward similar conclusions. In 2016, Dr. Peter Whybrow and Dr. Andrew Doan called too much screen time “digital heroin,” and the Ohio State University said that “children who used screens for seven hours a day were twice as likely to develop anxiety or depression than children who used screens for an hour or less a day.”
Screen time impacts kids’ learning, too.
“NIH’s 2018 research additionally determined that kids who spent more than two hours per day on screens achieved lower scores on thinking and language tests. Today, schools across the nation consistently report record numbers of students who are not able to complete a school day without disruptive behavioral challenges or failure to achieve proficiency in reading and math,” Breitbart said.
Movieguide® recently reported on a study that implies screen time could also be to blame for children’s sensory issues:
Last month, JAMA Paediatrics conducted a study and connected toddlers’ screen time to atypical sensory processing. They found that too much screen time can create sensory processing issues.
“Sensory processing involves the integration of information received through the body’s sensory systems … to perceive and understand the world around the individual,” said Dr. Karen Heffler and David Bennett, two of the JAMA study’s authors.
“There are a wide variety of behaviors that can indicate a sensory processing issue. A child might seek out sensory behaviors, for example, by spinning their body, or they might try to avoid a sensory experience by not trying a new food,” HuffPost said. But “none of these responses alone necessarily signify a problem.”
What’s the solution? Research shows that kids’ screen time habits are dictated by what they see their parents model.
A recent study found “that the more parents use screens when they are around their kids, the higher the association with problematic screen use for their kids,” Forbes reported.
“Higher levels of perceived parent digital technology use that interferes with parent-child interactions — referred to as ‘parental technoference’ by the study authors — were associated with higher levels of anxiety, inattention and hyperactivity later in development,” CNN explained.
The solution to helping your child through depression or other issues brought on by excessive screen use is simple: put your phone away and encourage them to do the same.
