Problematic smartphone use is common among young people with mental health issues

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-23 04:00

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Researchers in the UK have found high levels of social media and smartphone use among a group of teens and young adults accessing mental health support. The study of social media and smartphone use in young people accessing mental health support found that at the start of the study, one in two participants already had problematic smartphone use. The researchers also found poor sleep, anxiety, depression and self-harm rates were high in the group. The researchers will continue to study the group over time and explore any links between social media, smartphone use and self-harm.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: King’s College London, UK

Funder: This work was supported by the Medical Research Council and Medical Research Foundation (grant number MR/S020365/1). This work was also part supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and King’s College London, and the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) South London. RD was also funded by a Clinician Scientist Fellowship from the Health Foundation in partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences and her work is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. BC is also supported by the Nuffield Trust. ML is also supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant number EP/V030302/1) and The Alan Turing Institute (grant number EP/N510129/1). AB and EC are also supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the MRC, the MRF, the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Accepted Author Manuscript version arising from this submission.

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