Is your child glued to the screen all the time? Beware, spending too much time on screens may lead to suicidal thoughts in preteens, a new study reports.
Amidst a worsening teen mental health crisis and new legislation banning children under 16 from using social media, a new study finds that more screen time among kids 9-11 may lead to suicidal behavior two years later. associated with a higher risk of developing
Does Excessive Screen Time Increase Suicidal Thoughts in Preteens?
study, published in preventive Medicine, finds that each additional hour of screen time is associated with a 9% higher risk of reporting suicidal behavior two years later. Specifically, each additional hour spent watching videos, playing video games, texting, and video chatting resulted in a higher risk of suicidal behavior.
Is Screen Time Killing Today’s Youngsters?
“Screen use can lead to social isolation, cyberbullying and sleep disruption, which can worsen mental health,” said senior author Jason Nagata, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “Excess screen time often displaces time for a person’s socialization, physical activity, and sleep.”
The study builds on existing knowledge surrounding youth mental health crises. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers. The study draws on data from the Nationwide Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the largest long-term study of brain development in the United States. The study collected screen time data for 11,633 children aged 9-11 who were followed for two years. The children answered questions about their time spent on suicidal behaviors, along with six different screen time modalities.
“The study was mostly conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, but its findings are especially relevant now because youth mental health has worsened during the pandemic,” noted study co-author Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, Assistant Professor Factor-Inventash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Researchers previously found that teen screen time doubled to nearly eight hours a day at the start of the pandemic in a study published in JAMA Pediatrics,
Limit screen time to stay fit and healthy
“Screen time can have important benefits such as education and socialization, but parents should strive to minimize adverse mental health risks from excessive screen time. Parents should regularly talk to their children about screen use and role model screen behaviorNagata said.
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