Australian children are spending up to nine hours a day on screens, with new Macquarie University research showing that gaming addiction and smartphone overuse are starting much earlier than previously thought – in upper primary school rather than the teenage years.
Early onset: Gaming addiction is starting in primary school rather than teenage years, with some children as young as 10 showing clinical symptoms.
The study is an Australian-first, surveying nearly 2000 students across Years 4 to 8. The research found around four per cent of children showed signs of clinical or sub-clinical Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), with no significant difference between primary and secondary school students.
Children with clinical IGD experience a behavioural addiction. Signs include prioritising gaming over other activities and interests despite negative impacts, withdrawal symptoms when not playing and being unable to control or reduce the amount of time spent gaming.
Meanwhile, 10 per cent of students were at moderate to high risk of smartphone addiction.
Early onset challenges assumptions
The findings challenge long-held assumptions that problematic gaming is primarily a teenage phenomenon, according to lead researcher, screen disorders psychologist Brad Marshall from Macquarie University's School of Psychological Sciences.
“This study is the outcome of real-world research,” says Mr Marshall, who also runs a Screens and Gaming Disorder Clinic.
“Most work on screen use disorders in children is focused around15 and 16 years-olds, but we know these issues are beginning earlier and earlier, so we wanted to look at this younger age group.”
The research, published in the latest issue of Current Psychology, represents Australia’s largest and youngest screen addiction prevalence study to date.
I see kids being arrested at age 12 for beating their parents because they try to take their mobile phone, or kids that have not been to school for two or three years.
Mr Marshall estimates the findings translate to approximately 100,000 Australian children with gaming disorder and 350,000 at risk of smartphone addiction.
“These are conservative figures, because a lot of these boys and girls would have under-reported their screen time use,” Mr Marshall says
The researchers followed an ethics requirement to advise students their parents would be informed if concerning usage levels were uncovered, which he says likely influenced some children’s survey responses.
Massive screen time increases
More than 2000 students from six independent schools were surveyed about their screen use during 2023.
At least 10 of the 218 participating students with problematic gaming or smartphone use had given fake parent email addresses, suggesting they were actively trying to hide their screen habits from their families.
The study found secondary school students averaged 9.03 hours daily on screens, while primary students spent 6.34 hours – a dramatic increase from 2017 pre-COVID data showing 6.09 hours for adolescents and 4.24 hours for primary students.
Girls showed higher rates of smartphone addiction than boys, while gaming disorder was more common in boys.
“I was surprised by the high screen time in these results,” Mr Marshall admits.
“And that’s even though I work with children at the pointy end in my clinic – I see kids literally being arrested at age 12 for beating their parents because they try to take their mobile phone, or kids that have not been to school for two or three years.
Developmental impact unveiled
Mr Marshall says that just counting screen time hours alone doesn’t tell the whole story of how gaming and smartphone use affects different children.
Fighting back: Psychologist Brad Marshall, pictured, runs one of Australia's only clinics that treats gaming disorder and smartphone addiction in children.
“Some kids can do nine hours of screen time in a day, but if they still meet their key developmental domains, then it’s not having a huge impact on their life; whereas another kid might have poorer outcomes overall from four hours of screen time,” he says.
To address this complexity, the research team developed a questionnaire to measure impacts across four key areas: educational, emotional, behavioural, and social/physical development.
The results were stark. Children with clinical-level gaming disorder showed developmental impacts four times higher than those without screen problems, with the greatest effects on social/physical activity and emotional development.
“We looked at the real-world impact on kids,” says Mr Marshall. Examples included whether screen use prevented the children from completing homework or going to school.
The study also found evidence of addiction-like behaviours starting much earlier, with about 50 per cent of Year 4 students now owning smartphones – a significant shift from previous generations where phones were typically received upon starting high school.
Looking ahead
Professor Wayne Warburton, co-author and expert in media psychology, says the study shows high screen use is a problem in children at a younger age than was previously thought.
“All the evidence suggests that earlier interventions will be more effective.”
Professor Warburton says it is particularly important to review screen use with young people who have known risk factors.
Digital dependency: Girls show higher rates of smartphone addiction than boys, with 15 per cent at moderate to high risk compared to seven per cent of boys.
“This includes children who have difficulties with behaviour management and control, and children turning to screens when their needs are not met well in the offline world.”
Many children don’t have the capacity to resist the pull of media which has a lot of addictive elements in it, he says.
Policy implications
The findings have significant implications for current policy debates around screen use.
Government focuses on social media bans for under-16s are missing a big part of the picture, says Mr Marshall.
“We have the evidence that the developmental impacts on kids for gaming far outweigh social media," he says.
There is currently only one publicly-funded treatment facility for screen use disorders in Australia, located in Western Australia, and no school-based prevention, or tertiary inpatient, outpatient, or e-therapy services.
The researchers argue for early intervention and prevention strategies, including parent education and school-based programs, particularly given that parents have greater influence during primary school years.
Brad Marshall is a PhD researcher and Chief Research Officer at online safety company Ctrl+Shft. He is also Director of the Screens and Gaming Disorder Clinic, Sydney.
Professor Wayne Warburton is from Macquarie University's School of Psychological Sciences.
