New study challenges assumptions about youth and digital media

A groundbreaking new study of young people’s digital media use has revealed surprising results, including evidence that smartphone ownership may actually benefit children.

The study also suggests a link between social media posting and various negative outcomes, as well as data connecting cyberbullying to depression, anger and signs of dependence on digital media.

The Life in Media Survey, led by a team of researchers at the University of South Florida in collaboration with The Harris Poll, conducted a survey of more than 1,500 11-to-13-year-olds in Florida. The findings will inform a 25-year national study that will track young people’s digital media use and wellbeing into adulthood. The findings are embargoed until Tuesday, March 25, at 6 a.m. ET and may be publicly released at that time.

Key findings include:

• Children who have their own smartphones fared better than kids who don’t on nearly every measure of wellbeing assessed. Kids with smartphones were less likely to report depression and anxiety symptoms, and more likely to spend time in-person with friends and report feeling good about themselves than kids who don’t have their own smartphones.
• Efforts to limit digital media use among kids don’t appear to be working, as more than 70 percent of 11-year-olds surveyed have their own smartphone, with many acquiring them by the age of eight and a half.
• Posting publicly to social media was associated with multiple harms. Children who often post to social media platforms were twice as likely than those who never or rarely post to report moderate or severe symptoms of depression, moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety and having sleep issues.
• Even the smallest amount of cyberbullying – being called a mean or hurtful name online – is associated with adverse outcomes. Nearly six in 10 respondents said they endured a form of cyberbullying in the past three months. Those children were more likely than those who were not bullied to report feeling depressed most days in the past year, getting angry and losing their temper and finding it hard to stop using technology.

“We went into this study expecting to find what many researchers, teachers and other observers assume: smartphone ownership is harmful to children. Not only was that not the case, most of the time we found the opposite – that owning a smartphone was associated with positive outcomes,” said Justin D. Martin, lead researcher on the project and the Eleanor Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics and Press Policy as USF.

Based on the findings, the research team of experts from journalism, psychology, public health, political science and communications, as well as a researcher from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, provide a few recommendations:

• Allowing children as young as 11 to have their own smartphone is likely fine and may be beneficial.
• Parents should discourage young children from posting publicly on social platforms. Parents should also be on alert for the slightest signs of cyberbullying, which is prevalent and harmful.
• Don’t let kids sleep with their smartphones. One in four kids surveyed sleep with a smartphone in their hand or in bed. Children who keep their phones in their bed don’t get enough sleep compared to those who sleep with phones in another room.

Our findings indicate that the effects of smartphone ownership are complex. It’s what kids do with cell phones and challenges in regulating their device use, rather than merely owning a smartphone, that may cause difficulties or inversely benefit their lives.”

Wendy Rote, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of South Florida

Informed by this survey, the research team will now prepare to start a nationwide, long-term study of some 8,000 children in early adolescence. 

The Life in Media Survey is the first lifespan study of its kind examining digital media use. It sets out to track participants from youth to adulthood to learn more about the long-term health and wellness impacts of smartphones, social media and other digital media and devices. 

Research will be conducted over the next 25 years, and data collected every six months will give ongoing insight to parents, teachers, researchers, health providers and others on the impact of digital media use on children and as they age into adults.

“Our data provide a snapshot of how the media influences young people in the moment. But many of the problems and benefits of media use accumulate over time, which is why it is essential to also conduct a long-term study to accurately assess the effects of digital media on wellbeing through an individual’s life,” said Stephen Song, co-principal investigator and USF assistant professor of journalism.

Researchers hope to determine how digital media impacts and changes attitudes, behaviors and health throughout people’s lives. For example, over time, the Life in Media Survey will be able to provide specifics about the impact of six-second videos on developing brains, the effects of staring at screens for five hours a day on eyesight and how online socialization in childhood affects sociability at age 30.