Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Parents' Excessive Smartphone Use Could Harm Children's Mental Health

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

A child at the dinner table talks about trouble at school or an argument with a friend, but parents aren't listening: They're checking their smartphones instead.

It's a scenario that plays out millions of times per day across America, and it could be harming the mental health of children, a new study suggests.

Kids ages 9 to 11 who said their parents spent way too much on their smartphones were more prone to anxiety, attention issues and hyperactivity later on compared to the youngsters of parents who weren't phone-obsessed, Canadian researchers report.

"When children's emotional and physical needs are consistently ignored or inappropriately responded to, they are at risk of developing mental health difficulties," explained a team led by Sheri Madigan, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

Her team published their findings in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The researchers looked at data from more than a thousand Canadian children ages 9 to 11, provided at multiple points between 2020 and early 2022. Kids were asked how much they agreed with statements such as "I wish my parent would spend less time on their phone and other devices" or "I get frustrated with my parent for being on their phone or other devices when we're spending time together."

The children were also assessed for various mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and inattention that developed over time.

According to Madigan's team, "higher levels of [child] anxiety symptoms were associated with higher levels of perceived parental technoference later in development."

According to the new data, it appears that having more anxious kids can push harried parents to use their smartphones more, but that excessive parental smartphone use could encourage inattention and hyperactivity in developing adolescents.

Overall, the study "highlights the complex relations between parental technoference and emerging adolescents' mental health," Madigan's team said.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-parents-excessive-smartphone-children-mental.html

Swiping Through Online Videos Increases Boredom

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Swiping through online videos to relieve boredom may actually make people more bored and less satisfied or engaged with the content, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

The study included seven experiments with a total of more than 1,200 participants from the United States or college students at the University of Toronto. In two baseline experiments, participants switched from one online video to the next when they were bored, and they predicted they would feel less bored by switching videos instead of watching them in their entirety.

However, the study found that digital switching—watching short snippets of videos or fast-forwarding through them—actually made people more bored, said lead study author Katy Tam, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto.

"If people want a more enjoyable experience when watching videos, they can try to stay focused on the content and minimize digital switching," Tam said. "Just like paying for a more immersive experience in a movie theater, more enjoyment comes from immersing oneself in online videos rather than swiping through them."

In one experiment with two segments, all the participants watched a 10-minute YouTube video without having the option to fast forward. In another segment, they could freely switch through seven five-minute videos within 10 minutes.

Participants reported feeling less bored when they watched the single video and found the viewing experience to be more satisfying, engaging and meaningful than when they switched through different videos.

There were similar findings for another experiment where participants watched a 10-minute video in one segment but could fast forward or rewind through a 50-minute video for 10 minutes in another segment.

"Digital switching may make the content of online videos seem meaningless because people don't have time to engage with or understand the content," Tam said.

Chronic boredom is linked with depressive symptoms, anxiety, sadistic aggression and risk-taking, Tam noted.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-swiping-online-videos-boredom.html

Too Much Time Watching Screens in 20s Raises Heart Attack Risk

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Spend your youth glued to your phone, computer and TV and you cut your odds of making it to 60, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine warns.

Data from a study tracking the health of more than 4,000 young adults for over 30 years found higher odds for heart attack for those who'd spent a lot of time watching TV in their early 20s.

"Our findings suggest that the amount of time young adults spend watching screens can significantly influence their risk of developing serious heart conditions later in life," said study lead author Dr. Jason Nagata.

"More screen time can displace important activities like sleep and physical activity," he added. "This underscores the importance of promoting healthy screen habits early in life to prevent future heart disease and stroke."

The new data comes from the longstanding Coronary Artery Risk and Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which has tracked the heart disease risk of thousands of adults for decades.

Every additional hour spent watching television when participants were 23 years of age was tied to a 26% higher odds for developing heart disease over the course of the study. It was also linked with a 16% higher odds for heart attacks and/or strokes, the UCSF team found.

Screen time wasn't only dangerous in youth: Every additional hour of daily TV time during midlife also raised a person's odds for coronary heart disease by 55%, stroke by 58%, and overall heart disease by 32%, the study found.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-screens-20s-heart-experts.html

All That Time Your Kids Play Video Games Could Lead to Career

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by Rutgers.

A new study by the Rutgers Education and Employment Research Center (EERC) reveals that gaming, modifying games (modding), and related hobbies can form a career pathway into the high-demand IT field, especially for adolescents and teens with supportive parents.

“Students don’t realize it at first, but playing video games and having related hobbies is often really helpful when choosing a career and even while job hunting,” said Eliza Peterson, a research analyst and lead author of the study. “For example, if they’re hosting a Minecraft server for their friends, they could parlay those skills and lessons into a Server Administration major, and later, maybe a career in that area of IT.”

As part of a larger study supported by the National Science Foundation, Rutgers researchers interviewed 43 students and alumni of the Ivy Tech Community College School of Information Technology in Indiana. The interviews, conducted over three years, revealed a common trajectory.

Most participants became interested in technology at a young age, often while bonding with their parents, and more than half of them (26 of 43) eventually developed a hobby such as gaming, modifying games, coding, programming, or building computers.

As teens, they did not expect that their passion for playing Minecraft or Fortnite could eventually lead to a job. But they eventually had a revelation – what the researchers call the “hobby-to-career reckoning” – and decided to study IT in their community college.

The Rutgers study adds to this growing body of work by highlighting a pathway from the thumb-cramping World of Warcraft into the lucrative world of IT work.

There are nearly 4.5 million computer and information technology professionals in the U.S., earning a median annual wage of $104,420, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s more than double the median annual wage for all occupations ($48,060).

More than 377,000 computer and IT job openings are expected each year, and overall employment is projected to grow “much faster” than the average for other occupations by 2032, including 25% growth for software developers and 32% for information security analysts.

Source: Rutgers
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/all-time-your-kids-play-video-games-could-lead-career-study-finds#main-content

Studies Find Teens with Problematic Smartphone Use Are Twice as Likely to Have Anxiety

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

PSU (problematic smartphone use) describes a pattern of behaviors, thoughts and feelings linked to smartphones that resembles an addiction, such as feeling panicky or upset when the phone is unavailable, finding it difficult to control the amount of time spent on the phone, using it for longer without feeling satisfied, and using the phone to the detriment of other enjoyable or meaningful activities.

Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London conducted two studies at schools investigating the association between PSU and mental health in young people. One study was with young people aged 16–18 years and the other was with 13–16 year-olds. These studies are among the first to evaluate PSU and mental health outcomes in adolescents.

Overall, 18.7% of 16–18 year-olds and 14.5% of 13-16 year-olds self-reported PSU, with higher prevalence among girls.

Findings published in Acta Paediatrica revealed 16–18 year-olds who reported PSU were twice as likely to experience anxiety and almost three times as likely to experience depression compared to those who did not report PSU.

Findings published in BMJ Mental Health revealed nearly half of 13–16 year-olds with PSU reported symptoms of anxiety (44.4%) compared to 26.4% without PSU. Over half of 13–16 year-olds with PSU reported symptoms of depression (55.6%) compared to 35.8% without PSU.

This study also investigated if PSU was associated with mental health over time and showed increases in PSU scores over a four-week period were linked to increases in self-reported anxiety, depression and insomnia.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-teens-problematic-smartphone-anxiety.html

New Study Reveals How Screen Time Affects Preteen Sleep

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

The US Surgeon General recently recommended a warning label for social media platforms due to concerns about their impact on youth mental health. The Surgeon General's Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health highlighted potential links between social media use and poor sleep quality in youth. Considering these concerns, what specific actions can adolescents and parents take to improve sleep?

A new national study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, offers insights into screen habits linked with better sleep.

"Ensuring adolescents get enough sleep is vital, as it supports their physical and mental growth and development," says lead author Jason Nagata, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. "Our research found that leaving notifications on, even in silent mode, leads to less sleep compared to turning the phone off completely or keeping it outside the bedroom."

The researchers analyzed data from 9,398 preteens aged 11-12 who are part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. Data were collected from 2018-2021.

The adolescents and their parents answered questions about their sleep habits and youth were asked about their screen and social media use at bedtime. A quarter of preteens had sleep disturbance. 16.2% reported being woken up by phone calls, text messages, or emails while sleeping at least once in the past week. Furthermore, 19.3% reported using their phone or another device if they woke up overnight.

"Adolescents can be extremely sensitive to phone notifications, often waking up instantly when they hear their phone," said Nagata. "Even if a phone is on silent or vibrate, adolescents may still check it overnight. Once they start reading or responding to messages, they can become more alert and activated."

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-reveals-screen-affects-preteen.html

Cutting Screen Use Boosts Mental Health in Children, Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Short-term reduction in leisure-time screen media use within families positively affects psychological symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online in JAMA Network Open.

Jesper Schmidt-Persson, Ph.D., from the Centre of Research in Childhood Health at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, and colleagues investigated the effects of a two-week screen media reduction intervention on children's and adolescents' mental health. Analysis included 181 children and adolescents from 89 participating families.

The researchers found that there was a statistically significant mean difference in the total difficulties score, favoring the screen media reduction intervention. The greatest benefits were seen for internalizing symptoms (emotional symptoms and peer problems; between-group mean difference) and prosocial behavior (between-group mean difference).

"Future research should explore the potential differential effects of various types of screen media use and look deeper into whether collective family participation in such interventions is a pivotal component for observed benefits," the authors write.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/healthpro-news/mental-health/cutting-screen-use-boosts-mental-health-in-children-teens

Anxious, Depressed, and Lonely Adolescents Are More Likely to Be Overdependent on Their Smartphones

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by PsyPost.

A survey of South Korean middle- and high-school students revealed that those with increased anxiety, depression, loneliness, and experience of violent treatment are more likely to become overdependent on their smartphones. Girls were more likely to develop this overdependence than boys. The paper was published in Scientific Reports.

A national survey in South Korea found that almost 1 in 4 individuals between ages 3 and 69 can be classified as being overdependent on their smartphones. This represents a rapid increase from previous years.

Smartphone overdependence is a condition where individuals excessively rely on their smartphones for daily activities and social interactions. This negatively impacts their well-being. The overuse of smartphones can result in reduced face-to-face communication, decreased productivity, and impaired mental health, including anxiety and depression. Physical issues like eye strain, sleep disturbances, and poor posture are also common among those who are overly dependent on their smartphones. Adolescents seem to be particularly likely to develop smartphone overdependence.

Researchers analyzed data from the 16th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national web survey containing data of 54,948 students from 793 schools across South Korea. These survey data are made public each year via the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency website. The participating students were between 12 and 18 years of age. Study authors excluded participants who did not use smartphones at all, so the final analysis was done on data of 53,457 participants.

Results showed that older adolescents were more likely to be overdependent on their smartphones compared to younger ones. 30% of girls showed signs of overdependence compared to 21% of boys. Adolescents from families of low socioeconomic status were more likely to be smartphone overdependent.

The risk of smartphone overdependence was around 2.5 times higher among participants with high anxiety (51%) than among those with minimal anxiety (19%). The risk was higher among depressive participants, those who felt lonely, and individuals who underwent hospital treatment due to violence they suffered. Further analysis showed that girls with severe anxiety were the group at the highest risk of smartphone overdependence with 53% of adolescents in this group fulfilling criteria for this condition.

Source: PsyPost
https://www.psypost.org/anxious-depressed-and-lonely-adolescents-are-more-likely-to-be-overdependent-on-their-smartphones/

Cutting Screen Time to 3 Hours Per Week Improves Kids’ Behavior and Mental Health in Days

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

Drastically reducing children’s leisure screen time to just three hours per week can lead to significant improvements in their mental health and behavior in as little as two weeks, a new study shows. The research, led by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson from the University of Southern Denmark, offers a powerful and actionable strategy for parents concerned about their children’s well-being in our increasingly digital world.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, involved 89 families with 181 children and adolescents between four and 17 years old. Half of these families were asked to limit their leisure screen time to a maximum of three hours per week per person – a dramatic reduction from the average seven to eight hours per day that many children typically spend on screens for entertainment.

The results were remarkable. After just two weeks (14 days) of this reduced screen time regimen, children in the intervention group showed significant improvements in their overall behavior and emotional well-being. Using a standardized assessment tool called the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), researchers found that these children experienced a decrease in behavioral difficulties equivalent to moving from the “borderline” category to the “normal” category.

This rapid and substantial improvement is particularly striking given the short duration of the study. It suggests that even a brief period of reduced screen time can have measurable benefits for children’s mental health.

The most notable improvements were seen in internalizing symptoms – those related to emotional problems and difficulties with peers – and in prosocial behavior, which involves being considerate and helpful towards others. This indicates that reducing screen time may help children better process their emotions and improve their social interactions.

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/cutting-screen-time-kids-behavior/

The No-Phone Childhood Movement

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by Axios.

Parents around the globe are banding together to keep their kids away from smartphones.

Why it matters: Study after study has detailed the stress and anxiety kids and teens deal with as a result of smartphone and social media use.

Zoom in: An organization in the U.S. called "Wait Until 8th" is gaining traction. The group offers a playbook to communities of parents who want to sign pledges to hold off on getting their kids smartphones until at least eighth grade. Similar groups of parents are being formed in other countries.

The bottom line: It's hard to avoid buying preteens and teens smartphones when all of their classmates and neighborhood friends are getting and using them. Parents say acting collectively makes it far easier to say no.

Source: Axios
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/no-smartphone-teen-childhood-pledge