30% Kids Are Badly Addicted To Phones, Making Them Anxious And Depressed When Phones Are Away

Kids today have access to smartphones or tablets like we never did when we were at their age. It is, however, coming to a point where they¡¯re getting more and more hooked on to a device in a rather unhealthy way.

And a recent research has revealed that one in four children have a relationship with their phone that is very problematic.

As per the research, these kids are exhibiting something called as ¡®Problematic Smartphone Usage¡¯ which basically means that the kids are obsessed with a mobile device in such a way that it is resulting in behaviours exuding addiction.

The research was conducted by researchers at King¡¯s College in London. They looked at 41 different studies published (in BMC Psychiatry) since the year 2011 (total of 41,871 teenagers and children) pertaining to children mental health and smartphone usage.

The research reveals that 10-30 percent of children are using smartphones or other devices in a way that causes them immense discomfort when it¡¯s not around.

Researchers feel that the obsessive use of the device has an element of addiction to it where it causes anxiety to the user if they don¡¯t get the desired screen time.

Dr Nicola Kalk of King¡¯s College London, co-author of the study states, ¡°It seems like a substantial minority of teenagers and young people from various different countries are self-reporting a pattern of behaviour that ¡­ we recognise from other addictions. The quality of the evidence is poor, but it is enough to warrant further investigation.¡±

According to the authors, smartphone addiction posed a different and ¡°arguably much bigger public health problem¡± than substances of abuse or internet gaming.

She further added, ¡°Once you start monitoring your use, you are engaging with its impact and how much time it is taking and what you are not doing because you are spending time on your phone.¡±

The research concludes stating that Problematic Smartphone Usage results in mental and health problems like stress, anxiety, irregular sleep and depression.