More and more, children and teens are using their phones for every aspect of their day. Can we blame them? Our world has encouraged — almost required — us to use our phones to function each day.
With this kind of expectation, many parents are now asking: Is my kid addicted to their phone?
“Addiction can be a very scary word and is still highly stigmatized. Sometimes we get scared or worried that we don’t want ourselves or someone we love to be labeled in such a way. However, it’s important for parents to understand screen addiction and what it means for their child or teen,” said Carissa Sabal, LCPC, mental health clinical supervisor at Endeavor Health Behavioral Health, who oversees the Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Program (PHP/IOP) in St. Charles.
Sabal has studied addiction disorders, spent the majority of her counseling career in acute mental healthcare, and has spoken on many topics related to substance use and addiction. She shares her answers to common questions about unhealthy device use in children/teens:
How is screen addiction defined from a behavioral health perspective? Is it officially recognized as a disorder?
Believe it or not, there is no official diagnosis related to screen/gaming addiction at this time. There is merely a proposed diagnosis of “internet gaming use disorder” that still is not officially adopted.
Many studies have been done over the last 25 years on screen use and video gaming. These will hopefully contribute to future clarity on diagnoses that speak to the behaviors we are seeing with people using devices that have negatively impacted their daily living.
In the PHP/IOP level of care, many of my colleagues and I see similar behaviors to substance use disorders related to an individual’s relationship to their phone or video gaming.
What are the potential long-term psychological and emotional effects of excessive screen time on young people?
One 2019 study that reviewed over 44 articles across 16 countries found the following significant data: “Studies exploring the relationship between screen time and mental health problems strongly indicated time spent on digital media associated with increased symptoms of anxiety, depression and attention deficit disorder.”
The study also noted that screen time also associated itself with poor emotional regulation and self-control, which had an increased potential of comorbid addiction to substances. It was also found that exposed screen time can have detrimental and prolonged effects on attention, memory and learning. It should also be noted that device use has an influence on language development in younger children as well.
What are the most common types of screen activities that lead to addiction?
There is a phrase that is often said among other therapists, which is: “It depends.” We often say this as a response to many questions, and this one is no different. There are definitely more common activities connected to problem behaviors, but there isn’t one that has caused significantly more problematic behaviors than others.
When working with someone who is struggling with a substance use disorder or a behavioral addiction (gambling, video gaming, etc.), it’s important to understand the connection the individual has to the behavior, and what purpose it serves them.
Your teen could be using social media to feel validated and seen, while another could be using video gaming because connecting with the “real world” is much more challenging than it is online. Listening to the relationship that the individual has with the behavior is important to understanding how to treat it.
What are the key signs that a child or teen might be developing a screen addiction?
The things I look for when working with a child/teen would be the following:
- Increased amount of time spent on the device (research suggests four or more hours a day can be seen as problematic, although this is not a rule).
- Struggling to do or talk about anything other than their device.
- Not as engaged in hobbies they used to enjoy and putting more energy into their device.
- Having difficulty and unsuccessful attempts to control their device use, such as they are unable to follow limits set by you or themselves.
- Awareness that their device use is negatively impacting how they accomplish daily living but still doing it anyway.
It is important to note that it is not just one of these behaviors that would be seen as a problem, but rather a combination of problems that could potentially lead to unhealthy device use. An example would be significant changes in your child, such as a B student and now getting Cs and Ds, trouble staying away from their phone, or dropping a hobby/sport, while also cancelling plans with close friends. At this point, immediate support from a mental health professional would be most beneficial.
At what point should parents seek professional help with their child's screen use?
If you see even a couple or few of the previous behaviors, it never hurts to have your child/teen talk with a mental health professional. It is always easier to catch unhealthy behaviors early than to wait until they are more severe.
Examples of this could be if you notice your child/teen having more negative self-talk about themselves and related to their phone use, struggling with socializing outside of their devices, or if your child/teen has been more anxious when their phone is taken away (responding outside of a reasonable reaction for a child/teen).
What are some practical strategies parents can use to limit screen time for their child/teen?
Talking with your child/teen and keeping healthy communication with them is crucial, and the same goes when talking about device use. While their willingness to communicate with you may waver throughout the years, it is important for you, as an adult, to set an example with healthy habits.
- Talk about how setting limits on their device use is about creating balance in their life.
- Encourage your child/teen that the goal is to never use their phone/devices but rather make time and space for other important things in their life.
- Encourage your child/teen to set timers on apps that they use more frequently.
- Have conversations with your child/teen about phone, internet or video game use. Ask how they are feeling about certain apps, as social media apps can be stress-inducing.
- Help them learn how they use their phone/device, and find ways to achieve some of their goals without using it.
- For parents of younger children, consider delaying the ownership of their own phone. An alternative option would be having a “family phone” (some use an old smartphone that is no longer in private use) that children can take with them when away from home for communication and emergency purposes. Ensure there are limited apps and child-lock settings to prevent access to certain features, such as unsafe internet sites. “Feature phones" do not allow access to many features of a standard smartphone.
- Validate your child/teen’s frustrations if they don’t have the same access as another friend, while also maintaining your boundaries regarding open access.
What is Endeavor Health's approach to treating screen addiction in young people?
I have helped many patients when I was a clinician, and in my current role, I help supervise our mental health team in how to effectively support patients that struggle with behavioral addictions or problem behaviors in our PHP/IOP at Endeavor Health Behavioral Health. We commonly see unhealthy device use in our adolescent programs and in our Emerging Adult Program.
Device use can be very different from substance use as it is integrated deeply into our day-to-day lives. The expectation is that devices are required to manage our modern world. Therefore, it’s important for parents to help their child/teen learn how to set healthy boundaries for device use, understand the relationship it has on their mental health, and how to use their device in a more meaningful way for their health.
Your child/teen’s mental health is important to us. Endeavor Health Behavioral Health offers numerous services to support you, your family, and the Chicagoland community. If you need help or would like to learn more, call (630) 305-5027.
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