Study links ‘addictive use’ of social media with youth suicidal behavior, mental health issues

As more U.S. youth grow addicted to electronic devices, they could be at greater risk for “suicidal behaviors, suicidal ideation and worse mental health,” a new study concludes.

“Adolescence is a vulnerable period for addictive behaviors, and recent findings suggest that young adolescents are particularly susceptible to screen addiction,” editorialists note about the June 18 report by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

“These statistics highlight the need to study screen addiction and its specific health effects, as understanding these behaviors is crucial for addressing the risks they pose to adolescents’ well-being.”

The report tracked data from 4,285 adolescents over 4 years from 2016 to 2022. It found “addictive use trajectories” among youth for social media, mobile phones and video games.

“High addictive use trajectories for all screen types were associated with suicide-related outcomes,” researchers warned.

Addictive use was defined as the threshold “when individuals experience difficulty stopping despite attempts to do so, as well as symptoms of withdrawal, tolerance, conflict and relapse.”

For example, 17% of youths admitted trying unsuccessfully to reduce their social media use while 11% reported its negative effects on schoolwork, according to the report.

“In the U.S., 48% of young adolescents report losing track of how much they are using their phone, 25% use social media to forget about their problems, and 25% admit to spending a considerable amount of time thinking about social media apps.”

Classroom cellphone bans increasing nationwide

The report coincides with the rising number of statewide cellphone bans for students during school.

While Florida began the trend in 2023, more than half of all states started regulating cellphones in the following years, according to the Associated Press.

“This is not just an academic bill,” Georgia Republican Rep. Scott Hilton said of legislation for grades K-8 to ban cellphones. “This is a mental health bill. It’s a public safety bill.”  

Democrat Rep. Jennifer Leeper, co-chair of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Education Committee, called phones “a cancer on our kids … driving isolation, loneliness, decreasing attention and having major impacts both on social-emotional well-being but also learning.” 

Concerns for students’ mental health plays a major role in deciding such bans. For example, Missouri expanded legislation originally limiting the ban to instructional time to include the entire school day. 

“The statistics really do hold that if we do the (full day), bell to bell, that’s going to have the biggest turnaround,” said state Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia. 

Education officials in North Dakota, which passed a similar measure in May, echo Steinhoff’s perspective. 

“This law gives students the gift of attention, connection, and presence,” said North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler. “We are removing the constant pull of comparison and distraction and replacing it with space to learn and grow.”