How Does Technology Affect Teenage Mental Health?

How does technology affect teenage mental health? Read on to learn about the impact of technology on teens’ mental health and wellness.

An Overview on Teens and Technology

Technology for teens keeps growing, and its impact is visible in daily living. In some cases, the adverse effects of tech appear to outweigh the positive. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, 95 percent of teens have access to smartphones.¹

The effects of these statistics are noticeable in teens and their behavioral health. Keep reading to know more about how technology affects teenage mental health.

How and Why Teenagers Use Technology

Teenagers use technology for various reasons, which can either cause positive or negative effects. Some technology for teens is to maintain a connection with social groups or increase creativity. Teens and technology impacts on them can affect emotional development and relationship development.

Teens and technology impacts cause significant time on a screen-based activity. These include tablets, gaming consoles, smartphones, televisions, and PCs. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children between ages 8 and 12 in the US spend around four to six hours daily watching or using their screens.²

Common Warning Signs in Teens

Various warning signs may depict that teenagers overuse technology. Some of these signs showing the impact of technology on children include:

Extreme mood swings
Drug or alcohol use
Severe changes in sleeping habits, personality traits, and behavior
Difficult time concentrating
Extreme sense of worry or fear during daily activities
Attempting to harm oneself or thinking about it
Partaking in risky behaviors that may lead to harming themselves or others
Feeling withdrawn and sad
Signs of addictive behavior regarding the internet

Impact of Technology on Teens' Mental Wellness

Technology can affect teenagers in various ways. Below are some of the positive impacts and consequences of inappropriate internet use.

Identity, Self-Esteem, and Body Image

Technology for the better can help improve a teenager’s sense of identity and self-esteem. Media plays a role in developing a teen’s body image, self-perception, and weight apprehensions.

The mainstream media, including social media platforms, includes diet culture. In some cases, teens and technology impacts cause them to find edited images of men and women, weight loss messages, and advertisements for diet products. It can make it challenging to differentiate between reality and what’s falsified.

Relationship Development

Relationship development is commonly done via screens for teenagers. Instead of physical activities and interaction, society is shifting more towards online engagement. Most individuals are naturally social and require social interactions and physical stimulation. Due to technology affecting social skills, the lack of in-person interaction becomes a challenge for the teen in physical activities.

Lack of Empathy

One of the major problems with technology is that it desensitizes teens and other individuals. With time, desensitization can lead to problems in giving perspectives and developing empathy for other people. Making derogatory comments to others may not seem as bad when through a screen.

Emotion Development

People using technology can experience a negative impact on socialization and the development of emotional attachment through physical interaction. Teenagers often want to experience the instant gratification of constant entertainment, which may cause attachment to tech than to people.

Like how people get addicted to pain medication, teens may also face challenges controlling their internet use.

Positive Impacts of Technology on Teens' Mental Wellness

On the positive side, technology can help teenagers’ mental wellness by improving identity development, social group connection, and creativity. For instance, people using technology via social media can connect with friends from different locations worldwide. Here are some of the other positive impacts of useful technology in daily life activities:

Helping them learn
Preparing for future tech careers
Improved multitasking
Improved visual-spatial development
Improved problem solving and decision making

Negative Effects of Technology on Teens' Mental Wellness

People using technology often get exposed to various negative effects, either physical or psychological. Common challenges such as eyestrain and problems with concentration are common among these young adults. Moreover, technological advances have made cyberbullying more prevalent. Technology can also cause the following:

Lower attention span
Increased risk and lack of privacy
Risk of depression
Obesity
Falling grades
Bullying
Social interaction problems

What is a Healthy Limit to Set for My Teenager?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average teenager’s screen time is nothing more than two hours daily.³ However, it’s important to note that there shouldn’t be a strict recommendation about the required number of hours for an average teenager’s screen time. It’s only imperative to ensure that teenagers use screen time in moderation to avoid too much technology.

Parents and technology impacts cause the need to find out where their teens go looking for information. It’s also important for them to confirm if it’s good quality.

Teenagers and the Internet

Teenagers typically make quick decisions and may not always think about the consequences of their actions. Hence, it’s always important to know where your teen gets important life information on the internet. If those sources are inappropriate, calmly speak to them about the possible consequences of their actions. Ensure to make teens understand and not overly enforce ideas on them.

Teenagers and Their Exposure to Apps and Games

Another imperative detail to observe is the kind of games and apps the child uses.⁴ When selecting the best types of teenage online games, it’s advisable to consider factors like the teen’s age, needs, and maturity level. To avoid too much technology, consider introducing teens majorly to educational apps to help them stay organized or teenage online games that teach self-control.

Teenagers and Screen Time

When parenting the modern teenager and trying to reduce your teen’s screen time, it may be crucial to know whether their devices are sources of distraction. Some teenagers may find it challenging to organize their time appropriately and often procrastinate by using their phones or watching TV.

Stay in Touch with Your Teens

Teenagers are naturally adventurous and risk-taking. Hence, their need for constant excitement could make them take wrong actions or act impulsively. These impulsive tendencies are one of the reasons why parents and technology need to stay in touch with their young adults. When parenting the modern teenager, avoid back-and-forth arguments with them. Allow them to see the reasons for the steps you take.