Problematic Screen Use in Early Adolescence and Mental Health Outcomes

Problematic or addiction-like patterns of screen engagement in early adolescence were linked with mental health and related outcomes over the following year in a US cohort analysis. The report describes problematic use of mobile phones, social media, and video games as being associated with mental health problems, sleep disturbance, and suicidal behaviors one year later.

The analysis included data from more than 8,000 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, following youth from ages 11–12 at baseline to an assessment one year later. At baseline, the exposures were described as problematic patterns of use for three modalities—mobile phone use, social media use, and video game use—rather than total screen time alone.

For mobile phone and social media, baseline problematic use was linked to higher mental health symptom scores spanning internalizing domains (depressive and somatic symptoms) and externalizing or behavioral domains (attention/deficit symptoms, oppositional defiant problems, and conduct problems).

Additional follow-up outcomes beyond symptom scores—suicidal behaviors, sleep disturbance, and substance initiation—were reported in association with problematic mobile phone and problematic social media use.

Problematic video game use had a narrower symptom profile at follow-up. There were prospective associations between problematic use and higher depressive, attention/deficit, and oppositional defiant symptom scores at one year. Suicidal behaviors and sleep disturbance were reported in this group, and there was some overlap with outcomes described for mobile phone and social media use observed.

In explaining what “problematic” means, the report uses addiction-like terms: difficulty controlling time online even when trying to cut back, withdrawal-like feelings when not using, needing increasing use to feel satisfied, and conflicts or impairment affecting school or home functioning.