A psychologist explains the signs of screen addiction, how it impacts their brain, and what caregivers can do to support better tech habits.
Published December 12, 2025
Screen time has become an integral part of how children and teenagers entertain themselves, socialize, and decompress, whether they are playing video games or scrolling social media. A recent national poll found that teens spend an average of 4.8 hours per day on social media platforms.
While many parents worry about the amount of time kids are on screens, a recent study in JAMA showed that it’s more important to pay attention to how kids engage with screens, as opposed to the total number of hours. Researchers found that children who had engaged in high and increasing “addictive use” of mobile phones, social media, and video games were more likely to have thoughts of suicide or to harm themselves.
“It can be tricky for parents to distinguish whether their child is ‘addicted’ to screens or simply attached,” explains Dr. Andrea Beth Temkin-Yu, a psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weil Cornell Medical Center and the Center for Youth Mental Health. “If they rely on screen use to distract or self-soothe when stressed or upset, that’s a red flag.”
Health Matters spoke to Dr. Temkin-Yu to better understand what addictive screen use looks like, how screen time affects adolescent cognitive health, and how parents can establish healthy guidelines.
Dr. Andrea Temkin-Yu
What happens in the brain when it becomes addicted to something?
There are several parts of the brain that are relevant when it comes to addiction, but a big factor is that engaging in addictive behavior taps into the parts of our brain that control the brain’s reward system.
There are certain chemicals in the brain that can feel really good when released. For example, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that gives us a sense of reward or pleasure. While some behaviors, like reading a book or thinking of a positive memory, may lead to small rises in dopamine, addictive behaviors can lead to a bigger surge of dopamine, meaning the person feels really good.
That big response is super rewarding, and people want to repeat that behavior again and again. For kids engaging in addictive screen use, that surge of dopamine feels much better than facing whatever stressor may be bringing them down, which makes them more and more likely to turn to screen use as a coping mechanism over time.
Are adolescent brains more vulnerable to screen addiction?
Adolescents and teens are more vulnerable due to the combination of their neurodevelopment stage and all the other internal and external changes they are experiencing (academic pressure, navigating dating and friendships, physical and emotional changes, etc.). At this stage, they are building independence and increasingly starting to look towards peers to figure out their place in the world.
Screen use – especially social media – gives the user little hits of dopamine as they scroll and engage with digital content. Adolescents’ developing brains are extra sensitive to this dopamine reward cycle, and so the behavior can become easily reinforced. Meanwhile, being offline and experiencing this intense fear of missing out feels really aversive, which just adds to the urge to hop back on their device.
Why is “addictive use” of screens a greater mental health risk than total screen time?
The reason isn’t clear – it’s possible that screen use as a coping mechanism interferes with the development of other more skillful behaviors, and this impacts mental health over time. But overall, parents and clinicians should be looking out for signs of addictive engagement and not just total screen use.
What are the warning signs that your child may be addicted to their phone?
If your child or teen becomes grumpy when you tell them to put their phone away, that’s to be expected. But there’s a difference between an eye roll or quick burst of anger versus a 30-minute battle.
Clinicians often ask parents to pay attention to how dysregulated their child becomes when blocked from screens. It’s also smart to pay attention to the lengths kids will go to in order to sneak devices or find work arounds to parental limits.”
Other red flags to look out for include spending less time in-person with friends and family, no longer doing the activities and hobbies that they once enjoyed, academic responsibilities slipping, and generally spending more and more time isolated with their device.
There’s a difference between engaging in an activity because it’s fun and brings a sense of pleasure, versus engaging because you feel as though it’s the only way to feel comfortable or relaxed.
How can you help your child break their addiction to screens?
One strategy that can be very helpful is to set up tech-free zones in your house. This could be no devices in bed, at the dinner table, in the family room – whatever makes the most sense for you and your family.
It’s also a good idea for parents to set a curfew for devices. This can be hard to enforce, and teens can become very angry about it, but this is an important boundary that I would really encourage. Getting quality sleep is crucial during this age, and screen time before bed can be very disruptive.
While social media and screens give us those small dopamine hits, the feeling is fleeting, which makes the user want to keep scrolling to get their next boost. Encourage your child to partake in other activities – such as baking, yoga, hiking, music, or drawing – instead. While these hobbies may not feel as immediately rewarding, they will bring more fulfillment and build meaning over time.
Lastly, modeling the right behavior with screens is important. I often have to remind myself to put my phone down when I’m spending time with my kids. Many of us parents are glued to our phones, too, but it’s easier to justify the guidelines you’ve set if you’re following them yourself.
What if they continue to exhibit addictive screen use?
If at-home guidelines are not working, and your child is still struggling with mental health and unhealthy attachment to their phone or device, therapy may be an appropriate next step for treatment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be very effective at reducing anxiety and managing mental health in children and adults alike. This form of talk therapy can help teens to find patterns in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and learn skills to manage them. Ideally, it will allow them to recognize when their screen use is problematic and help them find new, more healthy ways to engage.
I want parents to be mindful about their child’s screen use without panicking. It’s unrealistic to eliminate access to all devices. Instead, set up reasonable limits, and validate how those limits might be frustrating or hard for them at first.
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