Parshall Partners

Derailing Mental Health

     There was a time when raising a child didn’t include giving them a device that holds them captive for hours. That’s not the case today – and scientists now believe too much screen time is dangerous to a child’s health.

     The Journal of Human Development and Capabilities published a study that drew on data from the Global Mind Project to examine the population-level impacts of childhood smartphone ownership on mind health and wellbeing in young adulthood. The study pulled data globally from more than 100,000 18-to-24-year-olds.

     What the data revealed was that before the age of 13, owning a smartphone was associated with poorer mental health, especially in females. Suicidal thoughts, diminished self-image, self-worth and poorer emotional regulation were all impacted by using the device. The report also found increased aggression toward others, less empathy toward people, a detachment from reality and even hallucinations.

     The suicidal ideation impact should particularly bother us. I can’t imagine anyone giving a very young child a smartphone, but what the study discovered was that 48% of women who owned a smartphone by 5 or 6 experienced suicidal thoughts, compared to 28% of those who had a phone by the age of 13 or older. For men 31% had suicidal thoughts if they had earlier exposure to a smartphone, compared with 20% who received one 13 or older.

     The Global Mind Project is a large-scale, open-access, data acquisition initiative that uses something called the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ), an online, self-report assessment tool that captures 47 social, emotional, cognitive and physical functions. The MHQ score drops from 30 for those who acquired a smartphone at age 13 to just 1 for those who acquired a smartphone at age five. The percentage considered distressed or struggling (i.e. with negative MHQ scores indicating five or more severe symptoms), increases by 9.5% for females and 7.0% for males. The same pattern persists for each individual age with steeper effects for those aged 18–20 versus 21–24.

     The authors of the study believe that a third of children in the future will develop negative mental health, especially if children keep getting smartphones at a younger and younger age. Does a child need a device at 5? Waiting until 13 doesn’t mean a child won’t be harmed so protecting children through adolescence is crucial. Perhaps this study gives us a clue as to why Gen Z is struggling with mental health issues, like no other generation before. More screen time equals poorer mental health.

     Here's my thinking on this. How long can we delay providing these devices to our kids? Societal pressure isn’t a reason for us to abandon our divine appointment of being a parent. Take nature walks with your child, read great books together, spend time thinking and dreaming together. Wait as long as you can before surrendering your child over to the ‘electric parent’ that can never and should never do your job.

     Those are my thoughts. I’m Janet Parshall.