If you have a child or teen, you’ve probably seen the media discussion about the role of phone usage and social media usage on children’s overall well-being, especially mental health. There are concerns among parents and policymakers, but the research is often confusing on this topic. It’s not always clear from research the role that smartphone phone usage is playing on teens’ mental health in comparison to other factors.
We know that the teen years are often tumultuous for many kids. The onset of puberty, along with social and school stresses, can prompt a variety of challenges for teenagers, particularly for their mental health.
One new study shows the complexity of this topic very well. This study looked at teenagers’ phone use over the course of 90 days. Researchers tracked teens’ phone use along with their emotions, as self-reported by them. The most interesting result of this study was that it showed that when teenagers feel more negative in the morning on a given day, they tend to have more phone usage compared to other days. Interestingly, the reverse was not found to be the case. Teens’ phone usage early in the day was not related to their emotional state later.
This seems to suggest that teens may be using phone time (most of which was passive usage, like watching videos) in response to feeling bad emotionally. In other words, they may be using the phone as sort of an avoidance strategy when they feel sad or upset.
This study seems to give some evidence for the idea that instead of phone usage being the driver of emotional distress, that maybe the phone usage is actually a result of emotional upset.
The question that remains, however, is whether using the phone or screen media is an effective way to cope with emotions. It seems as a type of distraction or escape, rather than a healthy way to sort through difficult emotions.
Ways To Help Teens Cope With Difficult Emotions
In an effort to bring this research into real life, it’s important to consider how we as parents might be able to support our teens when they’re feeling sad or lonely or upset. How can we support them in developing other coping mechanisms besides passive screen use? Here are a few ways to help your teen:
Invite your teen to do something active with you. If your teen seems upset or withdrawn and tries to escape into their phone, invite them to do something active, like a walk, bike ride, or even cooking together. It sounds counterintuitive, but oftentimes an activity helps in multiple ways. The activity can simultaneously take their mind off of the stress, but also give them the opportunity to share about what they’re feeling.
Continue to set screen time limits. It’s hard to keep up with screen time limits with teenagers because they are growing in independence and responsibility. Most teens don’t feel like parents should be monitoring their screen usage and time, but still setting some boundaries around how much screen time they’re allowed can be helpful in encouraging them to seek out other types of entertainment, but also ways of coping with stress and difficult emotions.
Name the pattern you’re seeing. The study found phone use often follows a bad mood rather than causing it. If you see this same pattern in your teen, consider gently pointing this out to them. This is not meant as a criticism, but as a way to help them notice their own patterns. Suggest something like, “I’ve noticed you tend to grab your phone when you’re having a rough time. Do you want to talk about what’s going on instead?” This builds self-awareness they can eventually use without you prompting it.
Model healthy coping yourself. Teens are watching how the adults around them handle stress. If they see you going for a walk, having a conversation, or journaling when you’re upset, rather than scrolling, it reinforces that there are other ways to process hard emotions.
