A higher risk of adverse mental health and substance use risk prevails among adolescents who spend over four hours daily using their smartphones, a study suggests.
Research that was done earlier showed that smartphone use among adolescents has rapidly increased in recent years and it can be associated with a higher risk of adverse health issues such as psychiatric disorders, sleep issues, eye-related issues, and musculoskeletal disorders.
A team from Hanyang University Medical Center in Korea analyzed data from over 50,000 adolescent participants to gain a deeper understanding of the correlation between adolescents’ smartphone usage and their health.
Included in the dataset was information regarding the approximate daily hours each participant spent using a smartphone, along with several health-related metrics.
Propensity score matching was utilized in the statistical analysis to mitigate the influence of other correlated factors, such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status, which could be associated with health outcomes.
Adolescents who utilized a smartphone for over four hours daily exhibited higher occurrences of stress, suicidal ideation, and substance use compared to those whose usage was below four hours per day.
The findings published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE revealed that adolescents who used a smartphone for one to two hours per day encountered fewer issues compared to those who did not use a smartphone at all.
The authors emphasize that this study does not establish a direct causal relationship between smartphone use and adverse health outcomes.
Nevertheless, these findings could offer valuable insights for establishing guidelines regarding smartphone usage among adolescents, particularly given the ongoing increase in daily usage trends. Jin-Hwa Moon and Jong Ho Cha from Hanyang University highlighted that this research underscores the repercussions of using smart devices for over four hours daily on adolescent health.
They also mentioned that the negative consequences of excessive smartphone usage became noticeable once the daily usage surpassed 4 hours. These outcomes can contribute to the development of guidelines and educational initiatives aimed at promoting appropriate media usage.