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What’s the right age to get your kid a phone?
by Anne Fischer
Study: Smartphone use lifts the mood of teenagers
3.6.2024
Translation: machine translated
Young people feel better when they use their smartphone. This is the result of a study. However, the results must be taken with a grain of salt.
A cute picture on Instagram, a nice message from a school friend or a funny life hack on TikTok: Young people love using their smartphones and it lifts their spirits. This is the result of a recently published study by the scientific journal Plos One, which was partly funded by Facebook (Meta).
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked 253 children aged 12 to 17 about their mobile phone use. They were asked to state how much time they spent on their smartphone and how they felt during and before using it. The teenagers received a short message with a questionnaire on their mobile 30 times in six days. They had to answer questions such as: Are you using your smartphone right now? How long have you been using it? How were you before? And how are you doing now? They then had to answer these questions within an hour. This technique is said to be more accurate in science than asking young people to remember their media consumption a week later, for example.
The result: the mood improved through use. And the longer they used their mobile phones, the more so. However, no data was collected on what exactly the young people did on their mobiles.
The longer the mobile phone use, the better the mood
An improved mood is not a bad thing at first. However, the authors of the study, Matt Minich and Megan Moreno, warn of the danger of young people using their mobiles to regulate their mood. If they repeatedly use their mobile to put themselves in a positive mood, there is a risk of addictive behaviour. Accordingly, many people use media to create positive moods. However, if a behaviour is regularly used to regulate mood, this is the hallmark of addiction. In addition to withdrawal symptoms, a tolerance develops. This increases the need for the dose.
The experts at the Science Media Centre in Cologne, who classify the results of the study for media professionals, are also sceptical. It is well documented that smartphone use improves mood. However, there are also similar studies in which no mood-enhancing effects can be observed, emphasises Adrian Meier, Junior Professor of Communication Science at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. Furthermore, it is not clear whether the results from the USA can be transferred to Germany.
"A coping strategy centred on media use can become dysfunctional"
Although similar studies from Switzerland or the Netherlands have shown that the use of smartphones and social media can boost mood, "a coping strategy centred on media use can also become dysfunctional when dealing with one's own emotions, such as boredom or stress". This is the case when solvable problems are no longer tackled, but rather avoided.
By the way: If you're wondering when your child is allowed to have a mobile and what you need to watch out for, you might be interested in this interview:
Header image: GBJSTOCK/Shutterstock
A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.
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