Policy changes are needed to regulate the age at which young adults own smartphones, says Shailender Swaminathan, Director of the Sapien Labs Centre for the Human Brain and Mind, India.
“While no one can prevent someone from owning a smartphone, some policy change must be brought in, at least at school levels, to regulate the use. The later the age, the better it would be,” Swaminathan told Moneycontrol.
He was speaking on the release of a study, Age of First Smartphone and Mental Well-being Outcomes. The new global study has been carried out by the Sapien Labs Centre for the Human Brain and Mind, a collaboration between Sapien Labs of the US and and Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR).
The study has revealed that young adults aged 18-24, who acquired smartphones at an early age in their life, were found to have poorer mental health, with women more severely affected than men.
It added that the percentage of men experiencing mental health challenges decreased from 42 percent for those who got their first smartphone at age 6, to 36 percent for those who received it at age 18. For women, the percentage declined from 74 percent at age 6 to 46 percent at age 18.
For all children who owned a smartphone below the age of 15 years, the mental health progression was more steep than for those above the age of 15.
Social self
“The decline was strongest for age groups below the age of 15,” said Swaminathan. He added: “It was exactly above the age of 15, as we moved to 16-17, the decline was less pronounced.”
The study also observed that when kids get smartphones at an older age, their social selves improve.
The Social Self, the study defines, is a metric of our positive integration in the social world. It includes various aspects such as self-image, self-confidence, the ability to form and maintain positive relationships, and cooperate with others.
“The internet works in a way which puts you on social comparisons inherently. How you are perceived is prime. This raises self-doubt in children when accessed at young age,” says Swaminathan.
“Social bonds are an important part of a child’s development. When a child spends several hours on the phone, he/she loses touch with the reality of his surroundings, does not learn social cues, thus hindering social bonds,” Swaminathan adds.
Suicidal thoughts
The study has shown that mental health problems like suicidal thoughts, feelings of aggression towards others, a sense of being detached from reality, and hallucinations significantly decrease if children get smartphones later in their life.
“While many mental health problems decreased with older age of first smartphone acquisition, Suicidal thoughts and intentions decreased most steeply for both males and females,” the study said.
"It was not always the case that the mental health of youth was bad. It is a recent phenomenon. The study was needed to find what had changed and the results are dramatic, point towards a need for immediate intervention,” Swaminathan said.
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