Study Sleep deprivation triggered by smartphones promotes depression in adolescents

Can smartphones and tablets cause depression?

Smartphones and other portable devices, such as tablets, are ubiquitous in today's world. Even children and adolescents use such devices. Researchers have now analyzed whether excessive screen time in children and adolescents leads to mental health risks and is involved in the development of depression. The results of the study suggest that not only are social disorders or direct effects on the brain primarily responsible for depression, but also the lack of sleep from surfing the web or playing apps has a significant impact.

Researchers at Stony Brook University found in their recent research that the use of smartphones and other wearable devices in children and adolescents leads to a lack of sleep that promotes depression. The physicians published the results of their study at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC's annual conference, SLEEP 2018.

Almost every person today has a smartphone

Portable technical devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are nowadays indispensable. Especially our children and adolescents grow up with these devices, of course, there is the question of whether the use of these devices can have negative health consequences for those affected.

Physicians analyze data from nearly 3,000 young people

The data analyzed in the study came from a survey of just under 3,000 teenagers collected between 2014 and 2017. In the survey, teenagers were asked how much time each of them spent in front of four different types of screen activities. These included: watching TV, playing games, sharing news with friends on so-called social networking sites, and general internet surfing. In addition, the participants were also asked about their sleeping habits. Any symptoms of depression have also been considered, explain the scientists.

More time in front of the screen increases the risk of depression

As noted earlier in other studies, more time in front of the screen was associated with a greater risk of developing depression. However, the current study found a link between lack of sleep through the use of portable devices and depressive symptoms for the first time, the authors explain.

Technical equipment affects high quality sleep

If the teens spent much of their time in front of the screen of their computer, TV, smartphone or tablet, the same people also reported less sleep, which led to stronger depressive symptoms, the doctors add. Higher rates of teenage depressive symptoms can be explained in part by the ubiquitous use of technical equipment that can affect high-quality, restorative sleep, says study author Xian Stella Li of Stony Brook University.

Which activities in front of the screen were particularly harmful?

However, there were differences between the various activities in front of the screen. Communicating with friends was less associated with depressive feelings than playing apps or video games. Sleep alone accounts for about 35 percent of the correlation between games and depressive symptoms, the doctors say. (It should be noted, however, that depressive symptoms are not the same as full-blown depression.)

Why does the time in front of the screen lead to depression?

It is not surprising that inadequate sleep is bad for mental and physical health, but a link between screen time and depression in children has been difficult to analyze, explain the physicians. For example, some researchers have suggested that too much screen time isolates those affected by other people. But there were also theories that the bright light of the screens affects the brain. There are also some scientists who argue that children are not depressed by too much television and video games, they sit much more in front of these screens because they are already depressed. Unfortunately, the current study does not solve this debate. But it is definitely true that many people, especially teenagers, do not get enough sleep. Some research has already found that only about ten percent of adolescents receive the recommended eight to ten hours of sleep per night, the experts explain. (As)