Global study of more than 100,000 young people latest to link early smartphone ownership with poorer mental health in young adults

(Press-News.org) Owning a smartphone before age 13 is associated with poorer mind health and wellbeing in early adulthood, according to a global study of more than 100,000 young people.

Published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, the study found that 18- to 24-year-olds who had received their first smartphone at age 12 or younger were more likely to report suicidal thoughts, aggression, detachment from reality, poorer emotional regulation, and low self-worth.

The data also shows evidence that these effects of smartphone ownership at an early age are in large part associated with early social media access and higher risks of cyberbullying, disrupted sleep, and poor family relationships by adulthood.

A team of experts from Sapien Labs, which hosts the world’s largest database on mental wellbeing, the Global Mind Project—where the data for this research was pooled from—are calling for urgent action to protect the mind health of future generations.

“Our data indicate that early smartphone ownership—and the social media access it often brings—is linked with a profound shift in mind health and wellbeing in early adulthood,” says lead author neuroscientist Dr Tara Thiagarajan, who is the founder and Chief Scientist of Sapien Labs.

“These correlations are mediated through several factors, including social media access, cyberbullying, disrupted sleep, and poor family relationships leading to symptoms in adulthood that are not the traditional mental health symptoms of depression and anxiety and can be missed by studies using standard screeners. These symptoms of increased aggression, detachment from reality and suicidal thoughts can have significant societal consequences as their rates grow in younger generations.

“Based on these findings, and with the age of first smartphones now well under age 13 across the world, we urge policymakers to adopt a precautionary approach, similar to regulations on alcohol and tobacco, by restricting smartphone access for under 13s, mandating digital literacy education and enforcing corporate accountability.”

Since the early 2000s, smartphones have reshaped how young people connect, learn and form identities. But alongside these opportunities come growing concerns over how AI-driven social media algorithms may amplify harmful content and encourage social comparison—while also impacting on other activities such as face-to-face interaction and sleep.

Although many social media platforms set a minimum user age of 13, enforcement is inconsistent. Meanwhile, the average age of first smartphone ownership continues to fall, with many children spending hours a day on their devices.

Currently, it is a mixed picture internationally around the banning on phones in schools, at least. In recent years, several countries have banned or restricted cell phone use in institutions, including France, the Netherlands, Italy, and New Zealand. Results of these moves are limited, however a study commissioned by the Dutch government has found improved focus among students. This month, policymakers in New York have announced it was to become the largest US state yet to ban smartphones in schools, joining locations such as Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and West Virginia which have all passed legislation requiring schools to have policies that at least limit access to smartphones.

Overall, previous studies into screen time, social media and smartphone access and various mental health outcomes have shown negative effects, but also mixed, often conflicting results—making it hard for policymakers, schools, and families to navigate this issue. Possibly this may have to do with the use of screeners that miss the critical associated symptoms.

For this new analysis, the team at Sapien drew data from their Global Mind Project, and then used the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ)—a self-assessment tool that measures social, emotional, cognitive, and physical wellbeing—to generate an overall ‘mind health’ score.

Their results showed:

· The specific symptoms most strongly linked with earlier smartphone ownership include suicidal thoughts, aggression, detachment from reality, and hallucinations.

· Young adults who received their first smartphone before age 13 had lower MHQ scores, with scores progressively declining the younger the age of first ownership. For example, those who owned a smartphone at age 13 scored an average of 30, dropping to just 1 for those who had one at age five.

· Correspondingly, the percentage considered distressed or struggling (with scores indicating they had five or more severe symptoms) rose by 9.5% for females and 7% for males. This pattern was consistent across all regions, cultures and languages, pointing to a critical window of heightened vulnerability.

· That younger ownership is also associated with diminished self-image, self-worth and confidence, and emotional resilience among females, and lower stability and calmness, self-worth and empathy among males.

Further analysis indicated that early access to social media explains about 40% of the association between earlier childhood smartphone ownership and later mind health, with poor family relationships (13%), cyberbullying (10%) and disrupted sleep (12%) also playing significant downstream roles.

The researchers acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic may have magnified these patterns, but the consistency of these trends across all global regions suggests a broader developmental impact of early smartphone access.

While current evidence does not yet prove direct causation between early smartphone ownership and later mind health and wellbeing, a limitation of the paper, the authors argue that the scale of the potential harm is too great to ignore and justifies a precautionary response.

They recommend four key areas for policymakers to address:

· A requirement of mandatory education on digital literacy and mental health.

· To strengthen the active identification of social media age violations and ensure meaningful consequences for technology companies.

· Restricting access to social media platforms.

· Implementing graduated access restrictions for smartphones.

“Altogether, these policy recommendations aim to safeguard mind health during critical developmental windows,” states Dr Thiagarajan, whose research specialism focuses on the impact of environment on the brain and mind, with an interest in understanding and enabling the productive evolution of the human mind and human systems.

“Their implementation requires substantial political and societal will, effective enforcement, and a multi-stakeholder approach, but successful precedents do exist. For example, in the United States, underage alcohol access and consumption is regulated through a combination of parental, commercial, and corporate accountability.”

Concluding she states: “Our evidence suggests childhood smartphone ownership, an early gateway into AI-powered digital environments, is profoundly diminishing mind health and wellbeing in adulthood with deep consequences for individual agency and societal flourishing.

“I was initially surprised by how strong the results are. However when you give it due consideration, it does begin to make sense that the younger developing mind is more compromised by the online environment given their vulnerability and lack of worldly experience.

“That said, I think it is also important to point out that smartphones and social media are not the only assault to mental health and crisis facing younger adults. It explains some of the overall decline but not all of it. “Now, while more research is needed to unravel the causal mechanisms, waiting for irrefutable proof in the face of these population-level findings unfortunately risks missing the window for timely, preventative action.”

This paper is part of a special cohesive set, entitled ‘The Policy Forum’, in the upcoming publication of Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.

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