PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(5 March 2025)

Mobile phone and smartphone development and social media use has increased (Ofcom, 2024) alongside increasing mental health problems in children and young people (NHS England, 2023), which has raised concerns amongst academics that the two are linked. The cited publications can be found here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/children/children-media-use-and-attitudes-2024/childrens-media-literacy-report-2024.pdf?v=368229; https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up.

Several recent reviews have explored the negative correlations between mobile phones and children’s wellbeing:

• Evidence from a systematic review (Jourdren et al. 2023) found significant positive correlations between high levels of screen exposure and attention difficulties. The full review can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37001326/.
• A systematic review (Santos et al. 2022) found that excessive screen use could be linked to attention problems across children of all ages. The full review can be found here: https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-023-01166-7.
• A systematic review (Abdoli et al. 2024) found an indirect association between increased screen time and depression and anxiety. The full review can be found here: https://journals.lww.com/ijom/fulltext/2024/02290/screen_time_and_child_behavioral_disorders_during.4.aspx.
• Data from the Office for National Statistics (2024) showed an estimated 847,000 children (19.1%) experienced online bullying in the last year. The full data set can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/bullyingandonlineexperiencesamongchildreninenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023.
• Data from the department’s National Behaviour Survey (2024) for the 2022/2023 academic year showed that among pupils who reported they had been bullied in the past 12 months, 30% said that least some of it had been online bullying. The full data set can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6628dd9bdb4b9f0448a7e584/National_behaviour_survey_academic_year_2022_to_2023.pdf.