A study published in June 2025 in the Journal of the American Medical Association was able to determine when youth were at risk of poor mental health related to screen time. Many parents, teachers and psychologists have worried about whether the amount of time kids spend on their phones, laptops and other devices were negatively impacting their mental health. This study, which followed 4,000 U.S. children over a period of four years, discovered two important points:
The amount of time kids spent on social media, mobile phones and video games was not associated with any mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, rule breaking and aggression, or with suicidal behaviors.
On the other hand, addictive use of screens did correlate to mental health problems. Addictive, or excessive, use means that a child has a craving for their screen, cannot seem to stop using it, and their use of their screen(s) interferes with home responsibilities, schoolwork or other activities. Consider these statistics from the study:
- Almost half the young people studied were on a high trajectory of addictive use for mobile phones.
- Over 40% were on a high trajectory of addictive use for video games.
- Kids with high or increasing use of social media and mobile phones were at two to three times greater risk for suicidal behavior and suicidal ideations than the kids on the lower trajectory.
- Young people whose social media use was high or increasing also had increased risks of symptoms of mental health problems.
- High use of video games was associated with greater risk of symptoms of mental health problems, suicidal behaviors and suicidal ideation.
- Girls were more likely than boys to have high trajectories of addictive social media use, while boys were more likely to have high trajectories of addictive video game use.
Signs of Screen Addiction in Youth
Possible signs that your child is, or is becoming, addicted to their devices and online platforms include:
- compulsive use or the uncontrollable urge to use their platform of choice (video games, social media, etc).
- frequently or constantly checking their phone every few minutes.
- engaging with their screen where it’s not appropriate or where they’ve been told not to, such as at school, late at night, when friends are visiting, or when they’re doing homework.
- when kids try to reduce their use but can’t follow the limits.
- getting into trouble at school or even annoying friends because they’re on their phones too much.
- hiding, or lying about, their device use.
- experiencing classic symptoms of withdrawal – such as being anxious, irritable, sad or angry – when they don’t have access to their platforms.
- not fulfilling their responsibilities or engaging in offline activities.
Ways parents can prevent screen addiction
Here are some tips for parents to help their teens avoid screen addiction:
- Talk to your teen about screen addiction and discuss what times it is not acceptable to use cell phones, video games and other technology.
- Schedule screen-free time during meals and at bedtime.
- Do not allow phones into teens’ bedrooms after a designated time each evening.
- Plan family activities for teens that don’t involve screens.
- Encourage teens to hang out with their friends in person.
- Role model a healthy relationship with your own devices.
- Create device agreements with their kids, working together to decide things such as what kinds of use are acceptable and what the daily limits and consequences for breaking rules should be.
What to do if your child appears to be addicted to screens?
All of our devices were designed to create addictions – the companies want us to use their products all the time! Keeping that in mind is important so that you don’t shame your child or think that you’ve failed as a parent. Talk to your child about how they’re feeling and try to understand why they’re spending so much time on these platforms. If you can understand their reasoning, you might be able to determine ways to help them develop coping strategies and/or other healthy activities that will fulfill the same needs.
You can encourage your teen to develop strategies to regain control of the addiction. For example, if screen addiction is interfering with your teen’s homework, try these tips:
- Use a timer to create windows of activity. Start small. Tell your teen to set their timer for 30 minutes and place their phone across the room. For that half hour, they should concentrate solely on their homework. When the timer goes off, reset it for 15 minutes during which they can take a break and use their devices however they want. Continue this process of working for 30, breaking for 15, until their homework is done.
- Make sure that your teen does not engage with their fun screen time in their bed or at their desk. Our brains actually develop associations with locations for activities, so we want their brain to associate their bed with sleep and their desk with homework. They should choose other locations for video games or social media scrolling.
If your child cannot make any progress in reducing their screen time and/or the addiction continues to interfere with your child’s functioning, seek help from a mental health professional.
Final Thoughts…
This latest research suggests parents should worry less about the amount of time kids are spending on screens and more about whether their children are exhibiting signs of addiction. If your children are not addicted, then parents can take active steps to prevent future problems. However, if you think your children might be addicted to their screens, seek help from a mental health professional.