Excessive phone and screen use tied to manic symptoms for one group, study finds

A caller survey from the University of California, San Francisco, indicates that pre-teens with greater vulnerability to definite types of tech usage could beryllium astatine a higher hazard of processing manic symptoms.

Published successful the diary Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, the survey analyzed a nationwide illustration of 9,243 children successful the U.S. betwixt 10 and 11 years old.

Young radical who spent much clip engaged with societal media, texting, videos and video games were much apt to person "inflated self-esteem, decreased request for sleep, distractibility, accelerated speech, racing thoughts and impulsivity — behaviors diagnostic of manic episodes, a cardinal diagnostic of bipolar-spectrum disorders," a property merchandise noted.

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"This survey underscores the value of cultivating steadfast surface usage habits early," said co-author Kyle Ganson, PhD, adjunct prof astatine the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, successful the release. 

"Future probe tin assistance america amended recognize the behaviors and encephalon mechanisms linking surface usage with manic symptoms to assistance pass prevention and involution efforts."

Excessive usage of societal media, texting, videos and video games by young radical of definite ages was linked to a higher hazard of intelligence wellness issues successful a caller study. (Fox News)

Tips for safer usage from experts

To people the Global Day of Unplugging (March 7), Verizon hosted its first-ever "digital wellness summit" successful New York City to stock insights with the nationalist astir the safe usage of technology.

Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, discussed the value of mounting integer boundaries, especially for kids.

"Digital wellness should beryllium for each age, but truly we request a caller blueprint arsenic parents, due to the fact that we've ne'er been done this before," Sampath said astatine the lawsuit successful the Big Apple. 

"There is simply a healthier narration radical tin have."

"This integer property is caller to america all. There's nary clip successful past we tin reclaim however we grip that."

In a abstracted interrogation with Fox News Digital, Sampath shared compelling statistic connected telephone use, including findings from Verizon’s 2024 Consumer Connections Report.

Kids and teenagers usage societal media for 4 to 5 hours a time and person betwixt 250 and 275 notifications daily, the study revealed.

Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, astatine right, is shown astatine the Verizon Digital Wellness Summit connected March 6, 2025, successful New York City. At left, histrion and talk-show big Drew Barrymore. (Angelica Stabile/Fox News Digital)

Kids were besides recovered to interaction and prime up their phones astir 150 times per day. 

A 4th of these events occurred during school hours.

"This is what sparked america to deliberation determination is simply a healthier narration radical tin have," Sampath said.

Tech's interaction connected kids

Dr. Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, attending scientist astatine Boston's Children's Hospital and an adjunct prof astatine Harvard Medical School, besides spoke astatine a sheet astatine the Verizon lawsuit and successful a follow-up interrogation with Fox News Digital.

The adept noted that kids spending "hours and hours" of their escaped clip connected their phones tin beryllium "problematic," particularly considering the anticipation that they'll acquisition threats specified arsenic cyberbullying and hatred speech.

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"We cognize that these are associated with depressive symptoms and different intelligence wellness concerns," she said. 

"We besides cognize that there's truthful overmuch affirmative for societal connection, learning and fun, truthful we person to equilibrium those 2 things."

She pointed retired that some societal media apps are "designed to support you stuck" done the loop of an algorithm.

Socializing with others tin person a affirmative interaction connected kids’ moods, experts suggested. (iStock)

This problematic usage tin pb to poorer functioning astatine enactment oregon schoolhouse and tin negatively interaction sleep and relationships, Sinclair-McBride warned.

"Are they capable to unrecorded their beingness and bash the things they privation and request to bash successful a affirmative way? If determination are concerns successful immoderate of those areas, that's usually a motion of thing needing to beryllium reassessed."

Prompts for parents, grandparents

Sinclair-McBride encouraged parents and grandparents to larn astir the apps children are utilizing and thatch them to beryllium "critical consumers" of contented by grooming them to observe scams, misinformation oregon AI-generated content.

"Slowing down and being much thoughtful and mindful astir what you're doing is, I think, the archetypal measurement successful modeling that as a parent," she told Fox News Digital.

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"Parents tin besides look astatine their ain usage and [ask], ‘Am I connected my telephone excessively much? Am I excessively addicted to societal media?’"

The CEO besides urged adults to acceptable boundaries involving telephone use, whether it's constricted to definite spaces successful the location oregon circumstantial times of day.

"When you bash things successful existent life, you consciousness happier." (iStock)

‘Create abstraction to person fun’

Sampath shared elemental proposal for families to guarantee a steadfast equilibrium betwixt tech usage and unplugged activities.

"Go for a movie. Go for a walk. Go and play a crippled oregon conscionable bent retired with friends. Or conscionable bent retired with your household successful your room and bash amusive things," helium suggested.

"I deliberation kids are going to person to beryllium comfy sometimes doing thing … speechmaking a book, conscionable hanging out," helium said. 

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"Kids are going to person to get mode much comfy doing that – that's portion of a steadfast boundary, and it's portion of a bully narration with technology."

Sampath besides encouraged Americans to instrumentality vantage of surviving successful areas with "some of the champion weather" and "the champion earthy sights successful the world" by exploring outdoor spaces and moving more.

"The clip that radical walk with integer exertion needs to beryllium balanced with real-life stuff, whether it's sports, the arts, originative activities, speechmaking oregon existent hands-on, tangible things." (iStock)

"You privation to make abstraction to person fun. You privation to make abstraction to play. You privation to make abstraction to person carnal activity, to person existent relationships," helium said. 

"It has semipermanent benefits connected mental health … When you bash things successful existent life, you consciousness happier."

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Sinclair-McBride echoed the proposal to get extracurricular and "touch grass."

"The clip that radical walk with integer exertion needs to beryllium balanced with real-life stuff, whether it's sports, the arts, originative activities, speechmaking oregon existent hands-on, tangible things," she said. 

Experts advocated for kids to beryllium fixed much clip to research tangible activities and hobbies alternatively of defaulting to digital. (iStock)

"I deliberation radical are successful this mindset that this procreation lone wants to bash digital, digital, digital," she added. 

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"They inactive similar different stuff, too. We person to springiness them options, abstraction and state to person that time."