A huge number of youth engage in extreme Smartphone use, which results in mental health risks. A new study warns that teenagers who use Smartphones more than four hours a day put their health at “serious” risk. Teenagers nowadays use Smartphones extensively. Research studies found that an increase in the usage of Smartphones among teens can cause serious health issues such as eye-related problems, sleep problems, and psychiatric & psychological disorders like anxiety, depression, stress, somatization, etc., and musculoskeletal disorders.
Survey of adolescents
A new study has been done by Jin Hwa Moon & Jong Ho Cha of Hanyang University Medical Center in Korea. This new study was published by the journal PLOS ONE on December 6, 2023. In this new study of more than 50,000 Korean adolescents, it was found that those who used a Smartphone for more than 4 hours per day had higher rates of adverse of mental health issues like stress, anxiety, and substance use. Increasing evidence indicates that for teens, using the internet daily might be associated with better physical and mental health.
Analysis of collected data
Smartphones have become essential platforms in the lives of young people
Jong Ho Cha
COVID-19 has affected the lives of adolescents by connecting their daily lives to smartphones for various purposes which is continued by school closures and social distancing. Moon, Cha, and colleagues analyzed the data from more than 50,000 adolescent participants in the ongoing Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey conducted in 2017 and 2020 and, we conducted this analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between adolescents’ use of smartphones and their health. The analysis used data that included the approximate number of hours each participant spent on a smartphone per day and their various health measures.
The percentage of adolescents using their mobile phones for more than two hours a day increased significantly from 64.3 percent in 2017 to 85.7 percent in 2020.
Impact of Smartphone Usage Time
Teenagers who used smartphones between one and two hours per day had fewer issues than those who did not use a smartphone at all.
The relationship between the use of smartphones and health issues may be working in reverse as believed by the researchers.
Extreme usage of smartphones was related to unfavorable behavioral health outcomes, which were clear when the usage time exceeded four hours a day
Jong Ho Cha
After the research Cha concluded that their findings could help establish smartphone usage guidelines for adolescents. This study warns that extreme usage of smartphones could be dangerous for teenagers which could put their lives at a serious point of risk.
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