Mobile Phones Make Teens and Tweens More Lonely; Here's How to Help

The impact of smartphone use on teenagers and younger, growing minds has always been a source of debate and concern. According to a new study, there may be a correlation between smartphone use and increased feeling of loneliness among the youth worldwide.

A recent study published in the Journal of Adolescence, titled "Worldwide Increases in Adolescent Loneliness," noted that teen loneliness grew dramatically between 2012 and 2018. While there has been a significant increase in loneliness in studies conducted in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, this is the first time this topic was investigated among other nations worldwide, according to The Washington Post report.

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ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 29: In this photo illustration, social media apps are seen on a mobile phone on July 29, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's parliament passed a new law, Wednesday, to regulate social media content. The law will require foreign social media companies to have an appointed Turkish-based representative to deal with any concern authorities have over the content.

Increased Smartphone Use Leads to More Loneliness

The study looks at several distinct elements that contribute to children's feelings of loneliness, Widely Vision wrote. The data trend remained generally stable until 2012 when a dramatic spike in school loneliness began and continued until researchers collected the data set in 2018. Researchers identified the increased smartphone use as a probable link to increased loneliness.

The researchers wrote that they used multi-level modeling to closely look into digital media use, group-level associations among school loneliness as a continuous variable, family size, and economic conditions across countries over several years, as reported by Fox News. They added that school loneliness was high when smartphone access and internet use were high. This is evident in both additive and interaction models including year. Thus, the use of digital media leads to the prediction of school loneliness, while time remains independent and not effective.

Only one country did not exhibit growth in loneliness among teens over that period, according to the data collected from 37 countries for the said study. Washington Post said that South Korea found no signs of considerably increased loneliness. this could have been due to the earlier widespread of smartphone use in the country even before the other countries began rampantly using the technology, according to Jean Twenge, the lead author and psychology professor at San Diego State University.

Of course, there is no way to know whether smartphone use is the sole reason for growing teen loneliness, but it does make sense. Too much time spent on a smartphone is bad for anyone's social health, visual acuity, let alone children's developing minds.

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How to Counter Loneliness Among Teenagers

Experts told South China Morning Post that teens must learn to outsmart loneliness by simply turning off their phones.

But a psychologist, Dr. Guy Winch outlines several practical strategies to combat unpleasant emotional distress in his book Emotional First Aid. These techniques, as reported by Johnny Shannon, are excellent strategies to combat the negative effects of loneliness on teenagers' life if left unchecked. 

1. Take the lead one step at a time.

Teenagers may try volunteering, participating in community service, or finding time for a hobby if they are socially isolated. These are all simple yet effective ways that can significantly help in meeting new people. Teenagers can also make a list of people whom they intend to meet after not speaking with them for a while. They can go through their phone contacts or email address list. Social media is also big enough to find and reconnect with acquaintances. Teens should not delude themselves into thinking that their friends are not interested.

2. Allow others to benefit from their mistakes.

Once the teenagers have built a list of acquaintances and friends, they should communicate with them every day. Yes, these people may not have reached out in a while nor returned the two-month-old phone call, but still, give them the benefit of the doubt. They might also be struggling with reconnecting and taking the lead. If teens send an invite for coffee, a drink, or even a virtual catch-up, they will be astonished at how many of their friends will gladly make plans with them.

3. Choose a positive attitude towards others.

It is natural to be afraid of rejection, and that is inevitable when teenagers attempt to reach out to their friends and acquaintances. However, teenagers need to put themselves in a positive mindset when they contact individuals, so that optimism resonates and reconnecting would appear inviting. When teenagers contact people on the Internet, it is crucial to get into a positive state of mind. Emoticons can be helpful, too, especially to compensate for the lack of tone and non-verbal cues virtually.

To summarize, teenagers must see their loneliness for what it is: a trap from which they must escape with effort, bravery, and a leap of faith.

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