Doctors have identified a dangerous time threshold in teenagers' smartphone use
The daily lives of teenagers around the world are closely linked to smartphones, and the lockdown pandemic has further reinforced this trend. Korean scientists have found out what consequences this can lead to.
According to a recent survey of children and young adults in Korea, time spent on smartphones has increased significantly. The biggest increase is seen when watching videos, such as on YouTube. At the same time, there is growing evidence that smartphone use is associated with many adverse health outcomes in adolescents, including sleep problems, ophthalmologic abnormalities, and musculoskeletal disorders. In addition, adolescent smartphone use is likely associated with psychopathology and psychiatric disorders.
In 2013, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended limiting gadget use to two hours per day. This remains the generally recommended time limit. It is unclear whether the guidelines take into account adolescents, who are more susceptible to new technology than young children. The percentage of adolescents and young adults using a smartphone for more than three hours a day was 50 percent in Switzerland, 43 percent in the United States and 44 percent in South Korea.
Researchers from Hanyang University Medical Center (South Korea) decided that the recommendations need to be revised, given the growing trend of smartphone use and its impact on health.
They analyzed data from more than 50,000 adolescents who participated in KYRBWS in 2017 and 2020, a nationwide annual school-based survey that examines health risk behaviors using self-completion questionnaires.
In the statistical analysis, researchers applied propensity score matching to account for factors that may be associated with health outcomes: age, gender, and socioeconomic status. The results are published in the journal PLOS One.
The researchers found that in 2020, the percentage of teens who used a smartphone for more than two hours a day was 85.7 percent - up from 64.3 percent in 2017. Teens who used a smartphone for more than four hours a day had higher rates of stress, suicidal thoughts and substance use compared to those who used the gadget less frequently. Meanwhile, teens who used a smartphone for one to two hours a day had fewer problems than teens who did not use a smartphone at all.
The authors noted that their study does not support a definite cause-and-effect relationship between smartphone use and adverse health outcomes. Nevertheless, the results may help in developing recommendations for adolescents, especially today, when the daily use of gadgets is increasing.
The problem of the negative impact of smartphones on children and adolescents has become so acute in recent years that a number of countries are already talking about banning cell phones at school. In Russia, for example, the State Duma has recently approved in the third reading the relevant law (so far, only the use of cell phones in classes has been completely banned).
Earlier, scientists from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that the popular live streaming platform Twitch poses a danger to minors, who can interact with adult strangers and donate money to streamers without the supervision of parents or guardians.