Are Smartphones Really Driving the Rise in Teenage Depression?

Plain English with Derek Thompson

Today—a closer critical look at the relationship between smartphones and mental health. One of the themes we’ve touched on more than any other on this show is that American teenagers—especially girls—appear to be “engulfed” in historic rates of anxiety and sadness. The numbers are undeniable. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that from 2011 to 2021, the share of teenage girls who say they experience “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” increased by 50 percent.

But there is a fierce debate about why this is happening. The most popular explanation on offer today in the media says: It’s the smartphones, stupid. Teen anxiety increased during a period when smartphones and social media colonized the youth social experience. This is a story I’ve shared on this very show, including with Jonathan Haidt, the author of the new bestselling book 'The Anxious Generation_.'_

But this interpretation is not dogma in scientific circles. In fact, it’s quite hotly debated. In 2019, an Oxford University study titled "The Association Between Adolescent Well-Being and Digital Technology Use" found that the effect size of screen time on reduced mental health was roughly the same as the association with “eating potatoes.”

Today, I want to give more space to the argument that it's not just the phones. Our guest is David Wallace-Wells, bestselling science writer and a columnist for The New York Times. He says something more complicated is happening. In particular, the rise in teen distress seems concentrated in a handful of high-income and often English-speaking countries. So what is it about the interaction between smartphones, social media, and an emerging Anglophonic culture of mental health that seems to be driving this increase in teen distress?

If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [e-mail].

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: David Wallace-Wells

Producer: Devon Baroldi

Links

• My original essay on the teen anxiety phenomenon

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/04/american-teens-sadness-depression-anxiety/629524/

• "Are Smartphones Driving Our Teens to Depression?" by David Wallace-Wells

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/opinion/smartphones-social-media-mental-health-teens.html

• 'The Anxious Generation,' by Jonathan Haidt

https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/book

• Haidt responds to his critics

https://www.afterbabel.com/p/social-media-mental-illness-epidemic

• Our original episode with Haidt

https://www.theringer.com/2022/4/22/23036468/why-are-american-teenagers-so-sad-and-anxious

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