Increasing child and adolescent use of social media, video games, and mobile phones has raised concerns about potential links to youth mental health problems. Prior research has largely focused on total screen time rather than longitudinal addictive use trajectories.

Screen use, the time spent engaging with electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablets, can become addictive when individuals experience difficulty stopping despite attempts to do so, as well as symptoms of withdrawal, tolerance, conflict, and relapse (“Box: Social Media and Video Game Addiction Questionnaire”). Adolescence is a vulnerable period for addictive behaviors, and recent findings suggest that young adolescents are particularly susceptible to screen addiction., Notably, in the US, 48% of young adolescents report losing track of how much they are using their phone, 25% use social media to forget about their problems, and 25% admit to spending a considerable amount of time thinking about social media apps., Furthermore, 17% have tried to reduce their social media use but cannot, and 11% acknowledge that their screen use has negatively affected their schoolwork. These statistics highlight the need to study screen addiction and its specific health effects, as understanding these behaviors is crucial for addressing the risks they pose to adolescents’ well-being.