A recent paper presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry indicates that young women suffer more psychological problems from smartphone use than young men. The researchers used a variety of scales to survey 400 young adults, most of whom were women, about their smartphone use and mental health. The study found that young women use their smartphones more often than young men, and reported a higher fear of negative perceptions online. The researchers also reported “the influence of social interactivity, low emotional understanding and variations in perceived social support that could be caused by problematic smartphone use.”
The study hasn’t been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal, and it suffers from all the disadvantages of self-reported data and relatively small sample sizes. It’s also far from certain that other studies will replicate the results. Nevertheless, it is an interesting data point, and it is in line with other studies showing young women tend to suffer from higher rates of anxiety and depression, with striking increases dating back to the invention of smartphones.
It is also yet another data point for the proposition that parents should try to find ways to limit smartphone use in children and teens, particularly in our girls. The median age of this study was 25, and we arguably can expect much higher rates of problems in younger people with less developed frontal lobes.
Rules about smartphones are always problematic for Plan B parents. Our stepchildren have another parent whose opinions can outweigh our own, especially if they are saying what our kids want to hear. Foster children may see their smartphones as their only lifeline to their family, friends, and old life. Trying to set rules for that particular addiction may just create power struggles that distract from more urgent issues. We may be limited to trying persuade rather than control this particular habit.
Nevertheless, it is an issue that we need to know about and do what we can where we can. Like so much of modern life, smartphones are amazing inventions that can be wonderful or terrifying, depending on how our families use them. We need to find ways to convince our kids to treat them like cars — helpful tools that we have to control and use wisely.
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Interested in learning more?
• Download my free e-book to learn how to stop being the villain in your child’s story.
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• Buy my book, Raising Other People’s Children, for more thoughts about being the person who’s not supposed to be there.
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