Child Health and Technology

A Pediatrics study analyzing NIH ABCD cohort data from 2018–2020 found 63.6% of participants owned smartphones (median first-phone age 11) and that, at one-year follow-up, adolescents without smartphones reported better mental health than peers who had them by age 12. Lead author Dr. Ran Barzilay (CHOP) urged families to weigh potential risks and benefits and said the team plans further research on children who get phones before age 10.