According to the Global Mind Project, owning a smartphone before the age of 13 is linked to significantly poorer mind health outcomes in young adulthood.

The online survey, which analysed nearly two million participants, across 163 countries, found that 18- to 24-year-olds who had received their first smartphone at age 12 or younger correlated with lower scores on the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) — a self-assessment tool that measures social, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being to generate an overall “mind health” score.

The specific symptoms most strongly linked to earlier smartphone ownership were suicidal thoughts, aggression, detachment from reality, and hallucinations.

Researchers have warned that this trend could affect the next generation and called for precautionary, state-level policies to limit early access.

Findings

Participants who received their first smartphone before the age of 13 years had significantly lower overall MHQ scores in young adulthood than those who acquired it later. The earlier the age at which a smartphone was acquired, the lower the MHQ score.

The mean MHQ exceeded 30 for those who first had a phone at age 13 but averaged around 1 for those who acquired a smartphone at age 5. This general pattern is consistent across all regions, cultures, and languages.

Differences across sexes were also observed. The proportion of participants considered distressed or struggling, defined as those with negative MHQ scores indicating five or more severe symptoms, increased by 9.5% in women and 7.0% in young men, with the difference being significantly greater in women (P < .001).

The diminished self-image, self-worth, and confidence, and emotional resilience among young women, and lower stability and calmness, self-worth, and empathy among men.

The researchers estimated that early access to social media explains about 40% of the association between earlier childhood smartphone ownership and later mind health, with poor family relationships (13%), cyberbullying (10%), and disrupted sleep (12%) also playing significant downstream roles.

The authors noted that access to artificial intelligence-powered social media environments at a younger age puts individuals at a greater risk for poorer family relationships and exposure to cyberbullying.

Policy Implications

Based on these findings, the authors advocate the adoption of precautionary principles.

Recommendations include proposing the implementation of a developmentally appropriate, society-wide policy approach, similar to those regulating access to alcohol and tobacco, which restricts smartphone and social media access for children under the age of 13, mandates digital literacy education, and enforces corporate accountability. These measures aim to protect the foundational elements of mind health and well-being that underpin the capabilities and functions of human flourishing in future generations.

The authors warned that “if current trends for increasingly younger smartphone ownership and social media access continue, projections from this data suggest that this factor alone could be responsible for mental distress such as suicidal thoughts, dissociation from reality, and diminished functioning such as emotional control and resilience in nearly a third of the next generation.”

They recommend four key areas for policymakers to address:

1. Requirement for mandatory education on digital literacy and mental health
2. Strengthening the active identification of social media age violations and ensure meaningful consequences for technology companies
3. Restricting access to social media platforms
4. Implementing graduated access restrictions for smartphones

This story was translated from Univadis France.