Every additional hour that children aged 9-11 spend in front of screens increases their risk of suicide two years later

Suicide is one of leading causes of death among adolescents. Emerging literature has described the relationships between excessive screen time and suicidal behaviors, although the results have been mixed. But now, a new study has sought to determine possible associations between screen time and suicidal behavior in 9- to 11-year-olds. And the diagnosis was stark.

A recent study published in the journal preventive medicine determined that the more time children of these ages spend in front of the screen of electronic devices, the more they are at risk develop suicidal behaviors.

For the authors of the work there is a disturbing fact: they have discovered that every extra hour that minors spend with their cell phones or other ‘gadgets’ watching videos, playing video games, chatting or participating in video calls increased the risk of suicidal behavior by 9% Two years after.

The study was based on data from the largest long-term study of brain development in the United States, the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

The specialists who carried out the work were Jonathan Chu, Kyle T. Ganson, Fiona Baker, Alejandro Testa, Dylan B. Jackson, Estuardo B. Murray and Jason Nagata. They analyzed analyzed the time that 11,633 children aged 9 to 11 from different walks of life passed in front of the screen and were followed for two years.

During that time, the children answered questions about time spent in front of six different screen modes, as well as suicidal behaviors. I study It was done before the covid-19 pandemica historical episode which in itself had a further negative impact on the mental health of young people.

The work concluded that minors facing multiple risk factors online, such as cyberbullying and hate speechthey were more likely to have a suicide alert, in which young people indicate an impending or recent suicide attempt.

Jason Nagata, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisconoted that the use of ‘gadgets’ among minors “could lead to social isolation, cyberbullying and sleep disturbances, which could worsen mental health”.

He added: “Increased screen time frequently Shift the time to socialize in personfor physical activities and sleep,” he clarified.

“Spend time in front of the screen can have significant benefitssuch as education and socialization, but parents should seek to mitigate the negative mental health risks of excessive screen time,” Nagata suggested.