Researchers found children with highly addictive use of phones, video games or social media were two to three times as likely to have thoughts of suicide or to harm themselves. — Pixabay
As Americans scramble to respond to rising rates of suicidal behaviour among youth, many policymakers have locked in on an alarming metric: the number of hours a day that American children spend glued to a glowing screen.
But a study published June 18 in the medical journal JAMA, which followed more than 4,000 children across the US, arrived at a surprising conclusion: Longer screen time at age 10 was not associated with higher rates of suicidal behaviour four years later.
