Surprising smartphone use by teenage girls revealed in new study

This news is nothing extraordinary.

Some teenage girls spend more than five hours a day on their smartphones – most are likely addicted to social media, an obsession linked to poorer health and well-being, according to a new Finnish study.

“The implications of nearly six hours of daily smartphone use and its associations with adolescent well-being are serious,” the study authors wrote in their findings published Tuesday in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

In Finland, 1,164 female students aged 15 to 16 were recruited in 2022 to provide data on their screen time, which researchers used to calculate phone use and social media consumption.

The average daily smartphone usage was 5.8 hours and the average time spent using social media was almost four hours. No significant differences were found between weekdays and weekends.

Participants also rated their health, mood, fatigue and loneliness.

Researchers estimated that about 17% of teens may have been addicted to social media, while 37% showed signs of an anxiety disorder.

Social media addiction was linked to higher levels of anxiety, poorer body image, poorer health, poor mood, more fatigue and greater feelings of loneliness.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to combine objectively measured smartphone use with validated measures of social media addiction and well-being,” the researchers wrote.

They noted some limitations to their study, including the fact that they did not exclude anyone; some participants may have had pre-existing mental health issues; GPAs were self-reported; and some teens submitted incomplete phone data.

Researchers say caregivers should establish technology-free zones and help teens maintain in-person relationships, while policymakers should urge tech companies to prioritize safety and health in social media development .

Study authors called U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s 2023 opinion on the effect of social media on youth mental health an ‘important call to action’ .

“While some advocate for increased mental health services to combat rising adolescent anxiety, no single service will be enough unless the root causes are addressed,” they wrote.