Smartphones may actually have benefits for kids, teens, study finds

Key takeaways

• Benefits of smartphone use: Findings from an ongoing survey of teens and tweens found that smartphone use starting at age 11 was found with greater overall well-being. 

• Social media can be detrimental: Researchers found that smartphone use itself likely isn’t the issue; however, frequent posting on social media can negatively affect mental health. 

• Tracking outcomes over time: The researchers plan to continue this study over the next 25 years to better understand how technology affects us over the course of our lives. 

With anxiety and depression in kids and teens climbing, and policymakers looking to impose legislation on social media use to protect young people, the findings from a new study are likely to come as a surprise. 

Researchers from the University of South Florida found that smartphone use may actually come with some benefits for kids and teens. 

“We went into this study expecting to find what many researchers, teachers and other observers assume: smartphone ownership is harmful to children. Not only was that not the case, most of the time we found the opposite – that owning a smartphone was associated with positive outcomes,” Justin D. Martin, lead researcher, said in a news release. 

Surveying teens and tweens

The researchers are conducting an ongoing survey, the Life in Media Survey, that will track young people’s digital media use and wellbeing into adulthood. 

The survey includes responses from over 1,500 11- to 13-year-olds in Florida. The team plans to continue surveying them every six months over the next 25 years to better understand the long-term impacts of smartphone and social media use. 

This first output of results comes from one month of surveying, which took place between November and December 2024. 

Not all smartphone use is problematic

The biggest takeaway from the study: not all smartphone use is problematic for teens and tweens. 

Overall, 70% of the 11 year-olds surveyed had their own phones, and many had them before age 9. 

The researchers learned that kids who had their own smartphones scored higher in all areas of well-being, had fewer symptoms related to anxiety and depression, had higher self-esteem, and reported spending more in-person time with their friends. 

Social media raises concerns

Posting to social media is where things tend to get more complicated. The researchers found that posting regularly on social media was associated with:  

• 54% more likely to report moderate or severe symptoms of depression (compared to 25% for those who rarely or never posted) 

• 54% more likely to report moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety (compared to 24% for those who rarely or never posted) 

• More likely to report issues sleeping 

Cyberbullying was also associated with detrimental outcomes. Kids who had experienced cyberbullying – which was nearly 60% of the kids in the study – were more likely to struggle to stop using their phones, experience more feelings of depression, and lose their tempers. 

“Our findings indicate that the effects of smartphone ownership are complex,” said Wendy Rote, USF associate professor of psychology. “It’s what kids do with cell phones and challenges in regulating their device use, rather than merely owning a smartphone, that may cause difficulties or inversely benefit their lives.”

Further research

This survey will be ongoing, and the researchers plan to make it nationwide and include as many as 8,000 kids. As the survey progresses, researchers will gain insights into how social media affects people as they age. 

“Our data provide a snapshot of how the media influences young people in the moment. But many of the problems and benefits of media use accumulate over time, which is why it is essential to also conduct a long-term study to accurately assess the effects of digital media on wellbeing through an individual’s life,” said Stephen Song, co-principal investigator and USF assistant professor of journalism.