# Study finds excessive phone and screen use tied to manic symptoms for one group, study finds

## Experts share key tips for safe and healthy tech use today

Published March 8, 2025 4:44pm EST

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Verizon executive Sowmyanarayan Sampath and psychologist Keneisha Sinclair-McBride address growing tech exposure in kids and how parents can help ensure their safety and well-being.

A recent study from the University of California, San Francisco, indicates that pre-teens with greater exposure to certain types of tech use could be at a higher risk of developing manic symptoms.

Published in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, the study analyzed a nationwide sample of 9,243 children in the U.S. between 10 and 11 years old.

Young people who spent more time engaged with social media, texting, videos, and video games were more likely to have "inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, rapid speech, racing thoughts, and impulsivity — behaviors characteristic of manic episodes, a key feature of bipolar-spectrum disorders," a press release noted.



Excessive use of social media, texting, videos, and video games by young people of certain ages was linked to a higher risk of mental health issues in a recent study. (Georgijevic/iStock)

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