Children, especially girls, who own smartphones before they are 13 years old may have worse mental health outcomes when they’re older, a new study suggests.
The study, published Sunday in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, analyzed self-reported questionnaire results from more than 100,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.
The questionnaire asked respondents about mental health symptoms, such as having aggression, feelings of detachment, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. Those who were given smartphones at an earlier age were associated with worse mental health outcomes for every year of smartphone ownership before the age of 13.
Early smartphone ownership was associated with feelings of lower self-image and lower self-worth in both girls and boys. Girls reported lower emotional resilience and lower confidence, while boys reported feeling less calm, less stable and less empathetic.
About 48% of young women who had smartphones by 5 or 6 years old reported having severe suicidal thoughts, compared to 28% of females who had smartphones by 13 or older.
In young men, 31% of those who had smartphones by 5 or 6 years old reported having severe suicidal thoughts and 20% of males who had smartphones by 13 or older reported having severe suicidal thoughts.
Study authors attributed the differences between young women’s and young men’s mental health symptoms to social media usage. Other factors that seemed to impact mental health outcomes were cyberbullying, poor sleep and poor family relationships.
The study’s authors recommended restricting smartphone and social media access for kids under 13, promoting digital literacy education and corporate accountability.