Why are super kids connected today? We are less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy and completely disarmed for the adult phase, "said the lead author of the research, Jean Twenge, of the State University of San Diego (California), USA).
To examine this phenomenon, Twenge and his colleagues analyze the study of data 'Monitoring the future', a representative survey of more than one million young Americans between 15 and 18 years old.
In this survey, young people are asked about the frequency of use of their phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their social interactions and their level of general happiness.
On average, they found that teens who spent more time in front of the screen devices were "noticeably" more unhappy than that they spent more time on activities such as sports, reading, and face-to-face social interaction.
However, total abstinence from the screen also does not lead to happiness, since happier teenagers used digital media a little less than an hour a day.
"The key to the use of digital media and happiness is limited use," Twenge said.
By looking at the historical trends of the same age groups since the 1990s, researchers found that the proliferation of screen devices over time coincided with a general decrease in happiness among adolescents.
Specifically, life satisfaction, self-esteem and happiness for young women plummeted after 2012, the year in which the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone increased by more than 50 percent.
"The biggest change in the lives of adolescents between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time spent with digital media, and the subsequent decrease in social activities in person and sleep," said the scientist.
Among its conclusions, the researchers recommend that young people in no case exceed the hours of use of digital resources and that the amount of time spent watching their friends face to face and exercising, two activities related reliably with a greater happiness
