Trial involving 4,000 children will explore impact on mental health, sleep and time spent with friends and family
A pioneering investigation into the impact of restricting social media access for children in the UK has been announced as politicians around the world consider action on the issue.
In December, Australia became the first country to ban under-16s from social media, with governments in other countries – including the UK – under pressure to do the same.
However, while experts say there is evidence that aspects of social media are harmful to most children, there has been no large-scale experimental study exploring the effect of limiting time spent on social media in healthy children as a population.
“This study is a world first to try to look at that question,” said Prof Amy Orben, of the University of Cambridge, who is co-lead of the new study.
