Lately, concerns have been rising that internet technologies and mobile phones could harm mental health. To investigate, researchers studied two million people aged 15 to 89 across 168 countries.
Mental health is a state of emotional well-being that allows individuals to fully realize their potential, manage their emotions, cope with life’s challenges, and work productively.
Researchers at Oxford found no evidence that these technologies harm mental health. The team says that if a genuine connection existed between internet use and worse mental health, their analysis would have picked it up.
However, the researchers did not examine social media usage or analyze how much time participants spent online.
What the study found
A team led by Professor Andrew Przybylski from the Oxford Internet Institute and research fellow Matti Vuorre analyzed broadband and mobile connectivity in home settings. They concluded that sweeping claims about these technologies’ negative effects deserve “a very high level of skepticism.”
The researchers studied mental health and emotional well-being data from internet users in various countries between 2000 and 2019, focusing on anxiety, depression, and self-harm.
Emotional well-being was assessed through in-person and telephone surveys conducted by local interviewers. The researchers evaluated mental health using statistics on depressive and anxiety disorders, as well as incidents of self-harm among participants.
The analysis did not reveal any specific patterns tied to age groups or participants’ gender. However, the team found that, during the study period, women in “average countries” reported increased life satisfaction, a point reported by the Daily Mail.
“We searched very carefully for a connection between technology and poor mental health, but we did not find one,” concluded Professor Przybylski. That suggests the popular idea that the internet and mobile phones harm mental health is unlikely to be true.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.
