Research Finds No Clear Evidence That Technology Deteriorates Youth Mental Health
Nowadays, the negative effects of technologies such as social media on the mental health of young people are attracting attention. However, when a British research team analyzed data investigating the link between technology use and youth mental health, 'there is no clear evidence that technology use worsens youth mental health.' The result is clear.
There Is No Evidence That Associations Between Adolescents' Digital Technology Engagement and Mental Health Problems Have Increased --Matti Vuorre, Amy Orben, Andrew K. Przybylski, 2021
Relief for parents? No hard evidence of link between tech and teenage mental health | University of Oxford
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/relief-parents-no-hard-evidence-link-between-tech-and-teenage-mental-health
It has long been pointed out that new technologies can worsen the mental health of young people and cause other social problems. It makes it easier for young people to commit crimes. '
In recent years, it is said that social media mainly reduces the mental health of young people and triggers various behavioral problems. So, a research team led by Dr. Matti Vuorre, who studies happiness in the digital age at Oxford University, used three datasets of a total of 435,61 adolescents living in the United States and the United Kingdom on television and social media. We investigated the effect of use on the mental health of adolescents.
Both surveys asked about youth mental health and TV viewing time, MTF about how often they access social media, UndSoc about how long they spend on social media, and YRBS about digital devices such as smartphones, tablets and game consoles. I asked about the use. In addition, since the three surveys were conducted longitudinally, the research team was able to analyze not only the results at a certain point in time, but also how the relationship between technology use and mental health changed over time.
The analysis did not show a clear association between youth mental health problems such as 'behavioral problems,' 'depression,' 'emotional problems,' and 'suicidal ideation,' in watching television and using social media. .. 'Depression' was rarely associated with technology use, while 'behavioral problems,' 'emotional problems,' and 'suicidal ideation' were slightly associated with television viewing and social media use. The relevance was small, the research team said.
The research team also points out that 'the impact of technology use on mental health did not change over time.' The relationship between adolescents' behavioral problems and suicidal ideation and social media and television has changed little over time, while 'depression' has rather diminished. Regarding 'emotional problems', the relationship with social media increased a little over time, but the degree of increase was not large.
From this result, the research team said, 'The claim that'social media platforms and devices have evolved rapidly over the last decade and have become more harmful to youth mental health'is strongly supported by current data. Not. '
Dr. Vuorre points out that the results do not conclude that technology is 'totally good' or 'totally bad' for teens. It is difficult to conclude the role of technology in the lives of young people, and with the fact that much of the data collected online is stored by technology companies, scientists' research is limited. So Dr. Vuorre argued that more transparent research collaboration was needed between independent researchers and technology companies.
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