A full slide deck of findings is available at the Box link here
TAMPA, Fla. (March 18, 2025) – A groundbreaking new study of young people's digital media use has revealed surprising results, including evidence that smartphone ownership may actually benefit children.
The study also suggests a link between social media posting and various negative outcomes, as well as data connecting cyberbullying to depression, anger and signs of dependence on digital media.
The Life in Media Survey, led by a team of researchers at the University of South Florida in collaboration with The Harris Poll, conducted a survey of more than 1,500 11-to-13-year-olds in Florida. The findings will inform a 25-year national study that will track young people's digital media use and wellbeing into adulthood. The findings are embargoed until Tuesday, March 25, at 6 a.m. ET and may be publicly released at that time.
Key findings include:
- Children who have their own smartphones fared better than kids who don't on nearly every measure of wellbeing assessed. Kids with smartphones were less likely to report depression and anxiety symptoms, and more likely to spend time in-person with friends and report feeling good about themselves than kids who don't have their own smartphones.
- Efforts to limit digital media use among kids don't appear to be working, as more than 70 percent of 11-year-olds surveyed have their own smartphone, with many acquiring them by the age of eight and a half.
- Posting publicly to social media was associated with multiple harms. Children who often post to social media platforms were twice as likely than those who never or rarely post to report moderate or severe symptoms of depression, moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety and having sleep issues.
- Even the smallest amount of cyberbullying – being called a mean or hurtful name online – is associated with adverse outcomes. Nearly six in 10 respondents said they endured a form of cyberbullying in the past three months. Those children were more likely than those who were not bullied to report feeling depressed most days in the past year, getting angry and losing their temper and finding it hard to stop using technology.
"We went into this study expecting to find what many researchers, teachers and other observers assume: smartphone ownership is harmful to children. Not only was that not the case, most of the time we found the opposite – that owning a smartphone was associated with positive outcomes," said Justin D. Martin , lead researcher on the project and the Eleanor Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics and Press Policy as USF.
