Kelly Drossel Senior Director of Media Relations | Stony Brook University News
Kelly Drossel Senior Director of Media Relations | Stony Brook University News
In a study published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from Stony Brook University, led by Lauren Hale, PhD, investigated smartphone usage among adolescents during school hours. The study revealed that students aged 13 to 18 spend an average of 1.5 hours on their smartphones each school day.
The findings were detailed in the research letter titled “Adolescent Smartphone Use During School Hours,” released on February 3. Hale stated, “Unfortunately, too much of the existing research on digital media use relies upon self-reported data. In this study, we were able to objectively assess smartphone use, enabling a much more granular understanding of timing and content of smartphone use.”
Hale expressed concern over the impact of smartphone use on learning and social interactions during school hours. She remarked, “As a public health researcher and a mother of two middle schoolers, I am concerned that too many kids are missing out on both learning and in-person social opportunities during the school day by looking at their phones. School hours are precious.”
The study involved nearly 300 participants who completed a survey and installed RealityMeter to track their smartphone activity. Data analysis focused on 117 adolescents who provided consistent data for at least two school days per week.
The results showed that over 25 percent of participants used their smartphones for more than two hours during school time. Popular apps included text messaging, Instagram, video streaming services, audio apps, and email.
Researchers suggested conducting further studies with larger sample sizes to better understand adolescent smartphone usage patterns across different societal segments.
In conclusion, the researchers noted: “Parents and adolescents may derive benefit from access to phones for communication and learning purposes during school. However, application usage data from this study suggest that most school-day smartphone use appears incongruous with that purpose."
This research received support from the Della Pietra Family Foundation.
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