POSITIVE CORNER #18: How Are 50,000 Adolescents Doing after Letting Go of their Smartphones for 3 Weeks?
- Bernd Lorscheider
- Jul 3
- 2 min read
A large-scale, scientific research in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany: Through their local schools, young people in these countries were offered the opportunity to voluntarily abstain from using their mobile phones completely or partially for three weeks and, if they wished, to participate in a scientific study that aimed to measure the effects on their physical and mental health. The high participation rate among the young people is just as remarkable as the scientific results of the study:
Participation : Approximately 70,000 students registered for voluntary abstinence and about 50,000 were willing to participate in the scientific study (Note: The study was conducted with strict involvement of parents and high data protection requirements).
Internet usage behavior : At the time of the initial test, almost 71 percent exhibited problematic internet usage behavior . After three weeks, this figure had dropped to 58 percent .
Symptoms of Depression : 69% of the adolescents showed symptoms of depression (58% mild to moderate, 8% moderately severe, and 3% severe symptoms). After three weeks , the proportion of those without depression had increased by approximately 15% .
Sleeping Disorders : Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep has decreased by more than 20 percent .
Psychological well-being : It increased by approximately 18 percent , most significantly in the group that completely abstained from using a mobile phone.
Social Media Regulation : After three weeks without social media around 2/3 of the students were in favor of restrictions on social media use for children and young people.
According to the researchers, the “study is of the highest relevance for the mental health of pupils ” .
Where the previous POSITIVE CORNER post #17 addressed the globally underestimated willingness of adults to cooperate and make sacrifices, the high participation rate of young people in this study supports the assumption of a similarly positive attitude among adolescents. The concerted effort of researchers, authorities, schools, parents, and young people not only yielded important results for the mental health of young people but also improved their appreciation of direct social contact and their appropriate use of social media.
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