Is my child addicted to their phone? What the evidence says, and what to do

Key fact

About 1 in 7

13 to 16-year-olds in UK studies reported problematic smartphone use

Here is the evening a lot of parents describe. Homework happens with the phone face up on the desk. Dinner is eaten with one hand. The phone goes upstairs at bedtime and the light under the door is still on at eleven. When you take it away, the house goes quiet in the wrong way. Somewhere in there you start to wonder whether this is normal, or whether it has tipped into something else.

Is "phone addiction" a real thing?

Not as a medical diagnosis. The World Health Organization's classification of diseases, ICD-11, has one screen-related condition, gaming disorder, and it is deliberately narrow. The person has lost control over their gaming, gaming has taken priority over other interests and daily activities, they carry on despite the harm it is doing, and the pattern is bad enough to damage family, school or social life, normally for at least 12 months. There is no equivalent diagnosis for smartphones, social media or the internet in general.

Nobody has stopped looking, though. Researchers use a different term, problematic smartphone use, measured with questionnaires that ask about the same three things: loss of control, the phone crowding out other parts of life, and continuing despite harm. It describes a pattern of behaviour. Most people who score highly on it would not meet the criteria for any disorder.

The UK's Chief Medical Officers looked at the evidence in 2019. They concluded it was too weak to set limits on screen time, and too weak to say that screens cause mental health problems. They advised a precautionary approach instead: get phones out of the bedroom at night, keep mealtimes screen-free, and talk about what children are doing online. In January 2026 the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health joined other medical royal colleges in a letter to ministers about excessive screen time and harmful content, so doctors are taking the question seriously. A diagnosis of "phone addiction" is still one your GP cannot give.

How common is it?

Common enough to take seriously. Rarer than the word "addicted" suggests.

• Two 2024 studies from King's College London asked UK secondary pupils about their phone use. 14.5% of 13 to 16-year-olds and 18.7% of 16 to 18-year-olds reported problematic smartphone use, with higher rates among girls.
• Those who did were about twice as likely to report anxiety symptoms (44% against 26% in the younger group). They were also more likely to report depression symptoms and insomnia. In the younger group, a rise in problematic use over four weeks went with a rise in anxiety, depression and poor sleep.
• Among 16 to 18-year-olds, the amount of screen time on its own was not linked to anxiety or depression. The pattern of use was. Hours are a poor measure of the thing you are worried about.
• A 2019 review of 41 international studies put the average rate of problematic use among children and young people at about 23%, with higher odds of depression, anxiety, stress and poor sleep. The authors rated the underlying studies as poor to moderate quality, so treat the number as a rough guide.

These studies show associations. They do not show causes. A child who is anxious may reach for the phone more; the phone may make the anxiety worse; both can be true. What they do show is that the pattern of use is a better warning sign than the clock.

What are the signs worth watching?

The questions researchers ask map closely onto what parents notice. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's four questions for families are a good starting point:

1. Is screen time in your house controlled? Can your child stop when the time is up, or when they say they will, without a fight most nights?
2. Does it get in the way of what your family wants to do? Meals, outings, conversations, the walk to school.
3. Does it get in the way of sleep? Later and later nights, a phone in the bed, tiredness in the morning.
4. Are they snacking while on screens?

To those, add the three things the research measures. Loss of control: they mean to stop and can't. Priority: the phone wins over friends in person, sport, homework, hobbies they used to love. Harm: grades slipping, friendships thinning, a mood that has changed for weeks rather than days, distress or anger when the phone is out of reach.

One or two of these on a bad week is normal. Several of them, most weeks, is the pattern to act on.

Does the number of hours matter?

Less than you would think. Parents reach for a number because it is the only thing that is easy to measure. But a child who spends two hours a night video-calling the same three friends is doing something different from a child who spends two hours scrolling alone, and the second child's hours feel different to them too. Ofcom's 2026 research found that 37% of 8 to 17-year-olds think they spend too much time on screens, rising to 44% of 16 to 17-year-olds. Children themselves name infinite scroll, autoplay and streaks as the things that keep them on longer than they meant to be.

That changes the job. If your child already half-agrees with you, you can start from there. "Do you think you're on it too much?" opens a conversation. "You're on it too much" closes one.

What to do tonight

1. Ask before you tell. "Do you ever feel like you're on it more than you want to be?" Most 13 to 17-year-olds in Ofcom's research had already tried to cut back: turning off notifications (29%), setting aside offline time (28%), leaving the phone out of bed (21%). Find out what they have tried.
2. Fix sleep first. It is the one piece of advice every UK body agrees on: screens off an hour before bed and the phone charging outside the bedroom. If you change only one thing, change this. See screens before bed.
3. Turn off the hooks. Notifications off for the apps that pull hardest. Autoplay off. Streaks allowed to lapse. Children name these features themselves, and changing them costs nobody anything.
4. Agree one rule together, and write it down. One stop time or one phone-free place that you both sign up to and that applies to you as well. A list of ten rules is a list nobody keeps. A rule your child helped write is one they are far less likely to sneak around.
5. Hold it the same way every night. Consistency matters more than strictness. A calm heads-up before the stop, then the stop, then something to go to.
6. Don't confiscate as a punishment. Taking the phone turns the problem into a fight about the phone. The aim is a child who can put it down themselves.

When to get help

If the signs above come with a change in your child that lasts weeks rather than days, talk to your GP or to the school's pastoral team. The things to mention: sleep that has fallen apart, pulling away from friends or school, a mood that has dropped and stayed down, or real distress or aggression when the phone is out of reach. Those are signs of a wider problem whatever the phone's part in it, and they are taken seriously.

If the stop itself is the fight, read what to say to "five more minutes". If you want the numbers behind children wanting to cut back, read what Ofcom's 2026 research says.

Kairoo

Stopping on their own is a skill. Kairoo helps them practise it.

Write one agreement together and both sign it. At stop time your child chooses to stop, bank the minutes or ask with a reason, and their phone holds the line. You don't have to.

Your phone and your child’s don’t have to match. Kairoo works between iPhone and Android, and your child’s app is also available on iPad.

Or start with the free agreement · Free, no card needed.

Questions parents ask

Is phone addiction a real medical condition?

Not as a diagnosis. The World Health Organization's ICD-11 recognises gaming disorder, with strict criteria, but has no diagnosis for smartphone or social media addiction. Researchers use the term problematic smartphone use instead, measured with questionnaires. The UK's Chief Medical Officers said in 2019 that the evidence was not strong enough to set screen time limits.

What are the signs of problematic phone use in a child?

Researchers look for three things: loss of control (they can't stop when they mean to), the phone taking priority over sleep, school, friends or family, and carrying on despite the problems it causes. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's four questions are a good home test. Is screen time in your house controlled? Does it get in the way of what your family wants to do? Does it get in the way of sleep? Are they snacking while on screens?

How common is problematic smartphone use in UK teenagers?

In two 2024 King's College London studies, 14.5% of 13 to 16-year-olds and 18.7% of 16 to 18-year-olds reported problematic smartphone use. A 2019 review of 41 international studies put the average at about 23%, though the authors rated the underlying studies as poor to moderate quality.

Should I take my child's phone away?

Taking the phone as a punishment usually starts a fight about the phone. It rarely changes how the phone is used. The evidence on children's own attitudes is more useful: 37% of 8 to 17-year-olds think they spend too much time on screens, and most 13 to 17-year-olds have already tried to cut back. Start from that common ground, agree one rule together, and hold it the same way every night.

When should I talk to a GP?

If your child's sleep has fallen apart, they have pulled away from friends or school, their mood has changed for weeks rather than days, or they become very distressed or aggressive when they can't use the phone. Those are signs of a wider problem, whatever the phone's part in it. Your GP or the school's pastoral team is the right first call.

Read next

Sources

1. Gaming disorder: frequently asked questions, World Health Organization
2. Teens with problematic smartphone use are twice as likely to have anxiety, and many are eager to cut down, King's College London, 1 August 2024
3. 'There's more to life than staring at a small screen': a mixed methods cohort study of problematic smartphone use and the relationship to anxiety, depression and sleep in students aged 13 to 16 years old in the UK, BMJ Mental Health (Carter and colleagues), July 2024
4. Prevalence of problematic smartphone usage and associated mental health outcomes amongst children and young people: a systematic review, meta-analysis and GRADE of the evidence, BMC Psychiatry (Sohn and colleagues), 29 November 2019
5. UK CMO commentary on screen time and social media map of reviews, Department of Health and Social Care (UK Chief Medical Officers), 7 February 2019
6. Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report 2026, Ofcom, 21 May 2026
7. What the experts say (the RCPCH's four questions for families), Childnet
8. RCPCH update on screen time and online harms, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 19 January 2026

Last reviewed 25 October 2026. Kairoo checks these pages when the rules or the research change; if you spot something out of date, tell us at hello@kairoo.family.