Children addicted to technology, including smartphones, are at higher risk of psychosis, study suggests

Children addicted to smartphones, iPads and video games are more likely to suffer psychotic episodes later in life, a study indicates.

Scientists found that smartphone and social media use in adolescence is linked to paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and “strange ideas” by the time a person reaches age 23.

But researchers said technology itself may not be the cause of the problem and that a child’s addiction to devices could be a warning that he or she is already vulnerable to mental illness.

The Canadian team behind the study wrote in the journal JAMA Psychiatry: “Increased media use and mental health problems appear to share risk factors, such as parental mental health problems, loneliness, bullying, and relationship between parents and children.

A child’s addiction to devices could be a warning that they are already vulnerable to mental illness (file image)

The researchers also warned that forcing young addicts to quit smoking by abruptly depriving them of screen time may not help and could be more harmful.

The study analyzed the media habits and psychotic experiences of 2,120 Canadians born in 1997 and 1998. It found that those who drastically reduced their computer use still had more frequent psychotic experiences in adulthood, even after accounting for other personal experiences.

He also said that Internet use is more strongly associated with depression than video games or watching television. Meanwhile, games may support emotional regulation and the development of social skills more than “passive” forms of technology like television.

The researchers advised that doctors should consider why a young device addict suffering from psychotic experiences became addicted in the first place, before blaming the technology.

Dr Simona Skripkauskaite, from the University of Oxford, said: “High use of digital technology in adolescence may be an early marker, rather than a cause, of later mental health problems.”

He added that experts are “moving away” from seeing digital technology as a “root cause of all contemporary problems”: “Pre-existing personal circumstances often underlie both high media use and mental health difficulties.”

Earlier this year, the Millennium Cohort Study, which followed 18,000 families, found that almost half of British teenagers feel addicted to social media.

And recent research from King’s College London found that one in three people meet the criteria for clinical smartphone addiction. Addicts can lose control over how much time they spend on their phones, become distressed when they can’t access their devices, and neglect other more meaningful parts of their lives.