A new study study shows that kids who get smartphones earlier have worse mental health as teens.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/well/family/early-smartphone-ownership-study.html?unlocked_article_code=1.508.X4HD.0lpHXuqKwnLD
82 points · 7 comments · view on lemmy.world
7 Comments
Hegar@fedia.io · 14 pts · 276d
So we all know that sleep is super important and that smart phones can impact sleep, but i wonder how much of the reported impact is because ofnsmart phones directly.
I would expect that time and resource poor families are more likely to allow kids to have smart phones earlier to keep them occupied, and that being from a poorer family correlates with worse mental health and greater chance of obesity.
hoshikarakitaridia@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 275d
Yep. I also hope that correlation v causation gets properly explored, I hope they do a critical discussion of their results and I also hope they properly contemplate any external influences.
It's easy to see results, it's hard to properly parse them.
Delta_V@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 276d
Crosscheck the results with kids who's parents work long hours at high stress jobs & who can therefore afford to buy smartphones for babies.
Just about every problem that exists today can be traced back to capitalism.
southernbeaver@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 276d
Is it smartphones or social media?
Zorque@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 275d
Is it social media or the algorithm that drives most of it?
southernbeaver@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 275d
I got bullied without algorithm but the attention span might be worse because of the algorithm.
Zorque@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 275d
Bullying has been a thing since free time has existed, it's not limited to technological innovation.