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Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the smartphone. Some researchers are convinced that one is causing the other. But how strong is the evidence? SOURCES:David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College.Lauren Oyler, novelist and cultural critic.Andrew Przybylski, professor of human behavior and technology at the University of Oxford. RESOURCES:"The Declining Mental Health Of The Young And The Global Disappearance Of The Hump Shape In Age In Unhappiness," by David G. Blanchflower, Alex Bryson, and Xiaowei Xu (NBER Working Paper, 2024)."Further Evidence on the Global Decline in the Mental Health of the Young," by David G. Blanchflower, Alex Bryson, Anthony Lepinteur, and Alan Piper (NBER Working Paper, 2024).No Judgment: Essays, by Lauren Oyler (2024)."To What Extent are Trends in Teen Mental Health Driven by Changes in Reporting?" by Adriana Corredor-Waldron and Janet Currie (Journal of Human Resources, 2024).The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, by Jonathan Haidt (2024)."Global Well-Being and Mental Health in the Internet Age," by Matti Vuorre and Andrew K. Przybylski (Clinical Psychological Science, 2023)."Are Mental Health Awareness Efforts Contributing to the Rise in Reported Mental Health Problems? A Call to Test the Prevalence Inflation Hypothesis," by Lucy Foulkes and Jack L. Andrews (New Ideas in Psychology, 2023)."The Association Between Adolescent Well-Being and Digital Technology Use," by Amy Orben and Andrew K. Przybylski (Nature Human Behaviour, 2019).iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood — and What That Means for the Rest of Us, by Jean M. Twenge (2017). EXTRAS:"Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024)."Are We Getting Lonelier?" by No Stupid Questions (2023)."Is Facebook Bad for Your Mental Health?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).
Is social media to blame for the teen mental health crisis? It's complicated!Thanks to Emily Weinstein, Amy Orben, Andrew Przybylski, Dean Burnett, Michael Mullarkey and Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz for help researching and fact-checking this episode! Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Emily Weinstein's book, "Behind Their Screens"Positive and negative uses of social media among adolescents hospitalized for suicidal behaviorThe Sisyphean Cycle of Technology PanicsThe Relationship Between Online Social Networking and Depression: A Systematic Review of Quantitative StudiesOnline "predators" and their victimsThe Coddling of the American ParentNo More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and DepressionHow technology is transforming the ways in which children playBanning mobile phones in schools in SpainNo One Knows Exactly What Social Media Is Doing To TeensWindows of developmental sensitivity to social mediaSmartphones are bad for some teens, not allHow Smartphones Affect the Social-Emotional Development of AdolescentsSocial media use and its impactTime Spent on Social Network Sites and Psychological Well-BeingA School-Level Analysis of Adolescent Extracurricular Activity Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Ellie Gibson has spent her life playing and writing about video games. It is a passion that she enjoys sharing with her son but as a parent she's become interested in the impact games play on the mind and behaviour. It's an emerging area of science and one that's frequently skewed by fevered debates about whether games are "good" or "bad". Ellie's theory is that exploring online worlds and connecting with one another through games is far more constructive than endlessly scrolling through social media, and it's a theory she explores with Professor Andrew Przybylski at the Oxford Internet Institute in the hope that he'll agree. Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio in Bristol
Mickey returns with the hot takes you know and love. He joins Yoel and Alexa to discuss Jonathan Haidt's recent Atlantic article, "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid." Haidt claims the answer is social media, but the cohosts aren't fully convinced. To shed a bit more light on the matter, they turn to an article by Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski which provides a rigorous analysis of the relationship between social media use and well-being. In the end, Mickey admits to being a hypocrite, and Alexa makes a plug for Big Potato.
When we talk about health for entrepreneurs, there are quite literally hundreds of directions in which we can go. Finding information that is important about the health of entrepreneurs to share is not the problem. Choosing which direction to take is the challenge. So this week, I am going to go in a direction that you may not expect. I'm going to weave a storyline that addresses topics that we see touched upon often but hopefully making this a series and a combo will make it come together and have a deeper impact for you. We discussed in the previous lesson that entrepreneurs, for the most part, enjoy the work that they do. Why is that more common in entrepreneurs than employees? First, they have more options to choose the work that they will do. Why would you choose to create a business that you don't enjoy? And if you don't enjoy it, as an entrepreneur, you have many more options to pivot and shift the work away that you don't enjoy and spend your time on the work that you do like doing. You can hire to outsource the tedious tasks or figure out how to eliminate what isn't important. We keep going back to that one word- options. Business owners are usually less afraid of risk so they might even just start over with a new business. But when you like your work, you like to work. But unlike what work looked like for previous generations, much of our work done as business owners occurs in front of a screen. Even if you do your best to avoid social media, set up time blocks or use Parkinson's Law to be more efficient, we are still looking at a screen during much of that time. So if we address two factors- 1- business owners work sixty three percent more than employees and 2- much of that work is done in front of screens- we see that we are heading down a dangerous path that we warn our children of, but we don't heed that warning for ourselves. We (hopefully) guide our children to not spend too much time staring at screens. But do we stop to consider how much time we spend on screens, and what that amount of screen time does to us physically and mentally? Unfortunately, this is all so new in the grand scope. According to Oxford University researchers Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski, the science being used to figure out how much screen time affects us is not solid, and it covers too wide of a range of people in too short of a period of time. Even Tim Cook, the CEO for Apple, has stated that we spend too much time on our devices. The funny thing is, we use all of this amazing technology to become more productive. But by working to become more productive, we spend more and more time looking to do so that we actually become incredibly less productive, more sedentary and causing great strain to our bodies and our minds. I got off of a series of zoom calls a few weeks ago and, after turning away from the computer, felt a dizziness that was becoming a little too common after calls. It was almost like I was drugged but it wasn't a drug that anyone would have taken voluntarily. There was a dizziness that made no sense. Of course, I went online to see what the issue might be. This is a funny, ironic little world that we created, isn't it? It was now so common to be on these calls that I never thought there might be consequences that come from staring for long periods of time at two pieces of polarized glass with a liquid crystal type material sandwiched between them. That sounds natural, doesn't it? The average American spends more than eleven hours looking at screens per day. Do you think this could be affecting our health in a multitude of ways? Now, at this point, you might be getting a little frustrated at me. You might be thinking, Vin. I'm not some schmo scrolling Youtube and Instagram all day wasting time. (We know you are a little, by the way). I run a business and I need to be on the computer otherwise things will not get done. And, guess what. I believe you. I'm no different. I also believe I don't waste time online (I'm lying like you are) and I also know that I need to be on the computer to get work done. I mean, I'm writing this on a computer and unless you printed this out, you are reading on one as well. So what do we do? Can we be more effective and spend less time online? Absolutely. That is classic 80/20, but it doesn't happen immediately. Those are habits that we need to implement, and disciplines that we need to create. But is there anything that we can do right now to make an improvement? After my dizzy spell, I looked at a screen to get an answer that helped me improve my health while on screens. The American Optometric Association suggests a 20-20-20 rule. I read it, utilized it, and, amazingly, it began to work. Here's how it goes. For every twenty minutes that you spend staring at a screen, take a twenty second break to look at something twenty feet away to give your eyes a break. That one little suggestion gave me a boundary and a framework that I didn't utilize before and it helped reduce the strain that was being put on my mind, and my eyes. It has allowed me to implement a few other practices, like looking out of the window while I'm giving an answer to someone online. Not only does it allow me to unlock my eyes from the screen for a bit but I also found that my answers were crisper and more thought out because I allowed my mind to focus clearer by taking my eyes off of the screen. The problem with any type of comfort is that the problems that come from it sneak up so slowly that when they arrive, we don't see it as a problem. It's that way with bad habits. They don't happen immediately and we don't feel the effects right away. But compounded over time, they cause great pain and discomfort and we are so used to them, we don't have the ability to recognize where the pain comes from. And speaking of pain, tomorrow we are going to address a pain that comes with this topic that is becoming more and more common but, up until recently, is hardly being discussed. I hope you join us tomorrow!
This week we're looking into a topic that almost never gets mentioned at school but affects almost all of us, one way or another. It's the menopause. And we'll hear why it happens and when it happens, and what we can do to lessen the effects when it does. Plus in the news, COVID vaccines for kids: is the side effect everyone's worried about worth worrying about, farmers toilet train cows, and China clamps down on kids playing computer games. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week we're looking into a topic that almost never gets mentioned at school but affects almost all of us, one way or another. It's the menopause. And we'll hear why it happens and when it happens, and what we can do to lessen the effects when it does. Plus in the news, COVID vaccines for kids: is the side effect everyone's worried about worth worrying about, farmers toilet train cows, and China clamps down on kids playing computer games. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Hello, hello everyone! We are back with another episode and this week we are talking about FOMO. Have you ever experienced FOMO? On this episode we are going to be explaining what FOMO is and what the research says about it. We'll also be taking a short test to assess and reflect on how much we experience feelings of missing out. We will talk about our own experiences with FOMO, and then we're going to get into what "the experts" say about dealing and overcoming FOMO. We'd love to know what your thoughts are on this topic too! As mentioned in the episode, here is the FOMO scale. Use a 0-10 rating to assess and reflect on your own experiences with FOMO: Scale by: Andrew Przybylski (2013) I fear others have more rewarding experiences than me. I fear my friends have more rewarding experiences than me. I get worried when I find out my friends are having fun without me. I get anxious when I don't know what my friends are up to. It is important that I understand my friends' "in-jokes." Sometimes, I wonder if I spend too much time keeping up with what is going on. It bothers me when I miss an opportunity to meet up with friends. When I have a good time, it is important for me to share the details online (e.g. updating status). When I miss out on a planned get-together, it bothers me. When I go on vacation, I continue to keep tabs on what my friends are doing. Email us: opentodiscussionpodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @opentodiscussionpod --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/opentodiscussionpod/message
Playing video games could improve people's mental health, according to a study from Oxford University. The research focused on two popular video games, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. A combined total of 3,274 players of both games were surveyed in the study. The researchers tracked the participants' total playing time and linked it to their mental health. Game developers Nintendo and Electronic Arts worked in tandem with the researchers by sharing anonymous data of the players' gaming habits. This method ensured accurate results, since relying on self-reports often leads to incorrect findings. Results showed that the longer the participants spent playing the games, the happier they felt. According to the researchers, the games' social aspect, which allows players to interact with their friends, might have influenced the participants' happiness. The findings run contrary to the belief that playing too much video games might lead to addiction and poor mental well-being. Andrew Przybylski [shuh-BIL-skee], the study's lead author, said that video games are not inherently bad. He also said that not allowing people to play video games freely could withhold the benefits of the activity. Despite the study's results, the researchers emphasized that their findings should not be taken as definitive. The study was limited to just two games, so there is no evidence whether or not other game genres have impacts on people's well-being. However, Przybylski is hopeful that the study will encourage other researchers to collaborate with game developers and conduct more research on gaming behaviors.
Andrew Przybylski is Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute
A study by Oxford University researchers on how playing video games affects mental health used data from video game makers, marking what the authors say is a rare collaboration between academics and the game industry.Lack of transparency from game makers has long been an issue for scientists hoping to better understand player behaviors.The paper released Monday by the Oxford Internet Institute comes as video game sales this year have boomed as more people are stuck at home because of the pandemic and many countries have once again imposed limits on public life.The findings are based on survey responses from people over 18 who played two games, Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.The study used data provided by the game makers, Electronic Arts and Nintendo of America, on how much time the respondents spent playing, unlike previous research that relied on imprecise estimates from the players. The video game industry has previously been reluctant to work with independent scientists, the paper noted.Such partnerships might be needed for future research on the booming video game industry.Academics “need broader and deeper collaborations with industry to study how games impact a wider, and more diverse, sample of players over time,” said Andrew Przybylski, the institute's director of research. “We’ll need more and better data to get to heart of the effects of games, for good or ill, on mental health.”The research was funded by the Huo Family Foundation, a London-based foundation, and the Economic and Social Research Council, a U.K.-government funded public body.The researchers said they found the actual amount of time spent playing was a small but significant positive factor in people’s well-being.The paper said the level of enjoyment that players get from a game could be a more important factor for their well-being than mere playing time.Some 2,756 players of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and 518 players of Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville responded to a survey, out of 250,000 invitations. They were asked to fill out a survey on their experiences that was matched up against playing time logged by the game companies.While the paper has yet to be peer reviewed, academics who weren't involved in the research said it showed some strengths, such as accurately measuring game playing time.“The fact that it’s the electronic data collected from the device is very good, it's very objective," said Paul Croarkin, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota who has studied video gaming and children. He said he had “lingering questions" about the study and said the self-reporting nature of the survey was a weakness, but said the researchers presented their findings in a balanced way.Joseph Hilgard, an assistant professor of social psychology at Illinois State University, also noted some limitations.“This is correlational data, and so we cannot estimate the causal effect of video games on well-being," said Hilgard. He added that respondents may have been playing other games simultaneously for which playtime wasn't tracked. “Finally, the low response rates on the surveys may limit the generalizability of the results to the entire player base of these games."
La FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) è una forma di ansia sociale che ci spinge a voler sempre sapere cosa stanno facendo gli altri per paura di rimanere esclusi o perderci qualcosa di importante.Negli ultimi anni è sempre di più in aumento e sta avendo grosse conseguenze, soprattutto sui giovanissimi.In questo podcast spiego cos'è la FOMO, il suo significato e la sua definizione e do qualche consiglio su come cercare di ridurla facendo ricordo a un po' di digital detox e alcuni piccoli accorgimenti.Ecco i link citati nel podcast:∙ Mio video sulle notifiche push:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giLWIo1SRsI∙ FOMO Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out∙ Articolo di Andrew Przybylski:https://web.archive.org/web/20140219235551/http://www.andrewprzybylski.me/FoMO/∙ Articolo dell'Harvard Business School:http://www.harbus.org/2004/social-theory-at-hbs-2749/
"We are fed a steady diet from the press that screens are bad for kids - if you show people enough of those terrible articles based on terrible research, a proportion of people will have a terrible idea about screens," says Andrew Przybylski, associate professor in the department of psychology at the University of Oxford and director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute. In this Tes Podagogy podcast, he banishes the myths around screen time and tech, explaining that our condemnations are way ahead of the evidence and that we need a more nuanced view of tech in schools.
Text. Pfft. Text is dead, am I right? Voice without video, THAT'S the future.Given that, I've decided to dip into the world of podcasting and have recorded my first episode. I talked to Dr. Andrew Przybylski from Oxford University about research that he and his colleagues have done on video game violence, frustration, aggression, and motivation. Specifically around some additional questions and research topics that psychologists should be investigating around aggression and games. We also talk about how game designers and community managers might use this research to make players feel less frustrated and angry in certain circumstances.I'll update this post once the podcast is searchable in iTunes, but here are some links:The podcast RSS feedA direct download link to Episode 1And if you want to listen to the podcast RIGHT NOW, click the play button below.This is my first attempt at podcasting and I've already learned a lot making just this one episode. But I also want to hear your feedback and suggestions. Just head over to the Contact page and shoot me a note. Likewise, if you're a researcher or someone with a psychology background working in the gaming industry, let me know if you'd like to be a guest! It's a great way to share what you've been working on with interested listeners. I'm aiming to post a new podcast every month.Finally, I hear you like links. Here are some links relevant to this episode.Info on this week's guest:Info on Dr. Przybylski and his publications
Andrew Przybylski discusses the motivational dynamics of how people approach ICTs, social media and video games.
Andrew Przybylski discusses the motivational dynamics of how people approach ICTs, social media and video games.
Andrew Przybylski and I chatted this time about how ones sense of ideal self can be encouraged with the play of video games. Przybylski is with the Department of Psychology, University of Essex, United Kingdom. He and his coauthors recently published a study in Psychological Science, the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology, exploring these ideas. He points out … Read more about this episode...
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