New study claims parents must worry about ‘addictive use’ more than screen time

The research found that children with high or increasing use of social media and mobile phones were at two to three times greater risk for suicidal thoughts.

Parents worldwide remain worried about the number of hours children remain glued to their mobile screens in a day. Now, a new study suggests that longer screen time at age 10 is not associated with higher rates of suicidal behavior. What mattered more is whether the children are getting addicted to their screens or not.

Parents worldwide remain worried about the number of hours children remain glued to their mobile screens(Unsplash)

The research, published on Wednesday in JAMA journal of the American Medical Association states that the time children spent on social media and video games was not associated with internalizing symptoms of mental health problems (anxiety and depression), CNN reported.

The study covered more than 4,000 children across the US over a period of four years, with the participants being in the 9-10 years age group at the beginning, CNN reported.

‘Addictive Use’

 

The authors found that children, who remain at higher risk for suicidal behaviors, were the ones who told them that their use of technology become “addictive” over time, The New York Times reported.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/health/youth-suicide-risk-phones.html)

Lead study author Yunyu Xiao, associated with the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, dubbed addictive use as “excessive use” which further interferes with home responsibilities, schoolwork and other activities.

The ones addicted had a "craving for it and cannot stop using it," the assistant professor said.

During the study, this addictive behavior was found to be very common among children, especially in terms of mobile phone usage, where almost half of them had high addictive use. Also, more than 40 per cent were on a high trajectory of addictive use for video games.

The study warns that children with high or increasing use of social media and mobile phones were two to three times as likely as other kids to have suicide thoughts or harm themselves.

Yunyu Xiao said this was the first study to find out that "addictive use is important, and is actually the root cause, instead of time”.

FAQs

1. How to prevent children from screen addiction?

The research asks parents to help prevent screen addiction in their children. For this, kids should be made aware about times when they should use cell phones, video games and other things.

2. What is the best time to give mobile phones to children?

Psychologist Jean Twenge said children should be kept away from social media until they turn 15, while parents should avoid giving them internet-enabled phones for as long as possible.

3. How much time do teenagers spend on social media in the US?

In 2023, Gallup reported that US teens were spending 4.8 hours on an average per day on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.