Psychologist Candice Odgers has studied adolescent mental health for 25 years. She fears the current debate around smartphones obscures some of the biggest issues facing teenagers – from the impact of Covid to the health of their adult caregivers
“It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that bans are likely to make things worse, not better,” Odgers says via a video call from her home in Los Angeles, where she teaches at the University of California, Irvine. Odgers’ analysis of the evidence makes her doubtful whether children’s brains have been rewired by mobile phones and certain that there is limited data to support the idea that social media is driving a dip in adolescent mental health.













