by Christopher J. Ferguson

Abstract

Objective: recent years have seen considerable attention to concerns regarding youth access to screens. Many professional bodies and clinicians have advised parents to limit youth access to smartphones and tablets, particularly at young ages. However, little clear evidence has emerged to support this advice.
Method: a dataset of 80,878 young adults (mean age: 23.3) was provided by Sapienlabs. Data included childhood age of first access to smartphones and tablets, as well as exposure to adverse childhood events. Relationships with current mental health were tested using OLS regression.
Results: results indicated that exposure to adverse childhood events was predictive of mental health difficulties in early adulthood. Age of access to smartphones and tablets was not.
Conclusions: advice to parents to avoid earlier access to smartphones and tablets appears to be unwarranted. Moral panic concerns about technology may distract society from more pressing causes of mental health difficulties such as abuse, neglect, and parental mental health.

Key words: smartphones, tablets, mental health, public policy