Study of 500,000 Teens Suggests Association Between Excessive Screen Time and Depression

It’s a cultural stereotype as old as the landline: teenagers love their phones. But for North American teen girls, especially, increasing smartphone use could have a darker side. Depression and suicide rates in teenagers have jumped in the last decade—doubling between 2007 and 2015 for girls—and the trend suspiciously coincides with when smartphones became their constant companions. A recent study places their screen time around nine hours per day.