This year, a team of researchers from Sapien Labs conducted a global study testing whether smartphone access at an earlier age has contributed to a decline of mental well-being in teenagers. They hypothesized that early social media access could lead to cyberbullying, interrupted sleep, social comparison, poor family relationships, as well as untraditional symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Currently, most social media platforms have an age minimum of thirteen, but it is not very well-enforced. Phones are also banned in schools throughout the world, but, similar to on social media apps, the enforcement is inconsistent. Recently, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and New Zealand have banned phone use in schools, and while they don’t have many results yet, the Dutch government discovered that the ban has improved the overall attention of students. In the United States specifically, New York has just joined Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and West Virginia in implementing a phone ban in schools.
Before this study, previous research into this topic has shown mixed results, making it hard for policymakers, schools, and parents to strictly enforce anything related to phone limitations. The team at Sapien Labs claims the lack of substantial results is due to the use of screeners that miss the critical associated symptoms. To combat this, the team used the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) to assess social, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being and to generate an overall mind-health score.
Their results revealed that young adults who received their first phone under the age of thirteen had lower MHQ scores, ranging from a score of 30 to 1 as the age declined. They also discovered that the symptoms most strongly linked with cellphone usage at an earlier age are suicidal thoughts, aggression, detachment from reality, and hallucinations. Additionally, other symptoms include diminishing self-image, self-worth, confidence and emotional resilience in women, and lower stability, calmness, self-worth, and empathy among men. Another result was that the number of people who had five or more severe symptoms rose by 9.5% for women and 7% for men—this was consistent across the globe.
Although their evidence does not prove that younger phone ownership directly causes a decline in mental well-being, researchers claim that the risk is too high to not take action. The steps that they recommend policymakers to take are: an increased education on digital literacy and mental health, to strengthen the enforcement of social media age violations, restricting access to social media, and implementing graduated access restrictions for phones. Dr Thiagarajan, whose research specialism focuses on the impact of environment on the brain and mind, relates the will needed to successfully restrict social media access is similar to the regulation of underage alcohol access implemented by a mix of “parental, commercial, and corporate accountability.”
As a teenager who was given a phone at the age of 10, I happen to agree with the researchers in this study. I think that having a phone at a younger age, when I am more prone to addiction, was harmful to my focus in school as well as connections with my friends. After getting a phone, I found that instead of doing schoolwork when I came home, I would just scroll on TikTok until I had a very limited amount of time to get all my work done. This caused me to have some missing work in sixth grade especially, the year directly after COVID-19 and my first year at a new school. I also go to a school in New York, where phones have recently been banned in schools. My school heavily enforces this rule, and we must park our phones in a cubby every morning before classes. At my school, there have, of course, been many, many complaints from the students on this front, but I do think that the phone ban has contributed to an increased focus among students, and especially me. I find now that instead of doing work at home, I get it all done at school, where I am not distracted by my phone.
Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/09/250906013448.htm
