logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
17m 33s

Audio long read: Do smartphones and soci...

SPRINGER NATURE LIMITED
About this episode

Research shows that, over the past two decades, rates of mental illness have been increasing in adolescents in many countries. While some scientists point to soaring use of smartphones and social media as a key driver for this trend, others say the evidence does not show a large effect of these technologies on teenagers’ psychological health.


At the heart of the dispute is a large, complex and often conflicting body of research that different researchers interpret in different ways. This has left parents unsure what to do.


This is an audio version of our Feature: Do smartphones and social media really harm teens’ mental health?


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Inside the evidence revolution — how decision-making became data driven
In this episode of Nature hits the books, we speak with Nature's Helen Pearson whose book Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works looks at the history of using evidence, rather than opinion, in decision making.The book traces the course of the movement in various disc ... Show More
26m 23s
Apr 22
Meet Ace, the table-tennis robot that can beat elite players
In this episode:00:45 The table-tennis robot that can mix it with the prosResearch Article: Dürr et al.News and Views: Robot can beat elite players at table tennisVideo: This robot can beat you at table tennis14:13 Research HighlightsNature: Venus’s impenetrable haze could be mad ... Show More
26m 10s
Apr 17
Briefing Chat: Penguins pick up PFAS pollution
In this episode:00:30 The penguins measuring environmental PFASScience: Penguins become marine detectives, thanks to pollutant-detecting anklets05:14 Treating autoimmune diseases with CAR-TNature: One woman, three autoimmune diseases: CAR-T therapy vanquishes ultra-rare disease t ... Show More
15m 1s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
Smartphones and children, mental health labels and climate anxiety
Smartphones are bad for the mental health of children and adolescents. At least, that’s the popular perception that has led to calls for smartphones to be banned for children under a certain age, with numerous media reports drumming home the narrative that smartphones are damagin ... Show More
27m 52s
Nov 2024
How do we reduce harms to children from smartphones?
Initially, the upside to children having access to a supercomputer in their pockets seemed obvious: immediate access to the reams of educational information on the internet, seamless communications with their friends, a source of constant entertainment. But as mental ill health a ... Show More
31m 7s
Aug 2024
The Anxious Generation
tail spinning
2 h
Feb 2024
EP295 Can banning phones in school help solve the youth mental health crisis? (with Dr. Jean Twenge)
<p>There has been a significant increase in mental health issues among young people in America since 2012, including anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide attempts, and suicide. Contrary to popular belief, these trends started before the pandemic, with rates of major depression ... Show More
29m 24s
May 2024
Babbage: Teens and their screens
<p>Ever since there have been smartphones and social media, there have been concerns about how they might be affecting children. Over the past decade, doctors have seen a decline in mental health in the young in much of the rich world. But whether that rise can be attributed to t ... Show More
42m 16s
Jun 2025
What Experts Really Think About Smartphones and Mental Health
I'm very concerned about the relationship between smartphone use and America's mental health crisis. But many researchers don't see things my way. They insist that there is little to no empirical data showing that smartphone and social media use drives up anxiety or depression. S ... Show More
1h 6m
Jan 2025
Your Brain On... Social Media
<p dir="ltr">Two decades on from the start of the smartphone revolution, we have the first humans who, for as long as they've been alive, have had the entire internet just a few taps away. What has this done to our brains?</p> <p dir="ltr">It's been an unprecedented period of rap ... Show More
48m 38s
Nov 2019
Is Social Media Good for Mental Health?
Since its introduction in the early 2000's, social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. It influences culture, current affairs, and connects us to the world like never before. As people spend more and more of their lives online, it's important for us to consider ... Show More
46m 53s
Sep 2024
22: people suck and it's because of social media (About Social Media Volume 1)
In this episode after a brief depressing moment I decide to call my friend Pan and discuss mental health in correlation with social media as it impacts our generation's ability to socialize with mindful intention. We primarily touch on subjects such as social media trends that im ... Show More
1h 8m