Study Finds Addictive Screen Use Doubles Suicide Risk in U.S.

(MENAFN) American teenagers are confronting a rapidly escalating mental health emergency, with 40% of high school students reporting ongoing feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to new data exposing the severe toll of compulsive screen use on youth well-being.

On Tuesday, The 74, a nonprofit dedicated to U.S. education coverage, released a commentary revealing the crisis’s magnitude. Drawing on research from the Coalition to Empower our Future, the report found nearly 60% of parents rate their children's mental health as "very or somewhat poor."

The piece stresses that the harmful impact stems less from total screen time and more from the quality of usage, particularly compulsive behaviors tied to social media and mobile phones. Experts warn these patterns are fueling entrenched psychological distress among young Americans.

Scientific evidence supporting this crisis came with a groundbreaking study published June 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Tracking nearly 4,300 U.S. children over four years, researchers discovered that teens exhibiting addictive behaviors with social media, mobile phones, or video games face twice the risk of suicidal actions compared to peers with low addictive tendencies.

Dr. Yunyu Xiao, assistant professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine and the study’s lead author, underscored that "addictive use is crucial and is actually the underlying issue, rather than just the amount of time spent."

Findings revealed about 31% of participants developed progressively addictive social media habits, while 25% followed similar addictive patterns with mobile phone use.

These insights upend traditional assumptions around screen time limits. The total screen exposure at age 10 showed no link to later suicidal outcomes, yet children demonstrating compulsive behaviors—such as inability to stop usage, distress when disconnected, or using screens as an escape—were at substantially higher risk.

Addictive usage begins early: roughly half the children reported high addictive mobile phone use from the study’s outset, persisting into early adolescence. Meanwhile, approximately 40% exhibited high or escalating addictive social media engagement.

The research also uncovered significant disparities in mental health effects. Addictive video gaming was linked with the greatest rise in internalizing symptoms, while escalating social media addiction correlated with the highest surge in externalizing behavioral issues. Children peaking in addictive social media use faced suicide risks two to three times greater.

This crisis transcends isolated cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 20% of U.S. high school students seriously considered attempting suicide, illustrating the urgent scale of this mental health emergency.

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