School Phone Bans and Adolescent Mental Health in Iceland
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland
- 2Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
- 3Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine
- 4Department of Health Studies and Applied Educational Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York
- 5Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract
Importance: Concerns about adolescent smartphone use and mental health have prompted many schools to implement mobile phone bans, but evidence of their effects remains mixed.
Objective: To examine whether schoolwide mobile phone bans were associated with changes in mental health and associated social and behavioral outcomes among adolescents in Iceland.
Design, Setting, and Participants: This repeated cross-sectional study used difference-in-differences analyses of data from 70 schools across 3 waves of the nationwide Youth in Iceland school survey. The surveys were administered to adolescents aged 13 to 15 years in February 2016, February 2018, and November 2023. Analyses were conducted from February 1, 2025, to January 30, 2026.
Exposure: Schoolwide mobile phone bans prohibiting student phone use during school hours. Between 2018 and 2023, 22 of 70 schools implemented a phone ban.
Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were depressive symptoms, anxiety, hostility, and mental well-being. Secondary outcomes were perceived peer support, screen use (social media use, gaming alone, gaming with friends, and video watching), and bullying (in person and cyberbullying).
Results: Among 23 938 adolescent observations across the 3 study years, 11 964 (50.0%) were boys; the mean (SD) age was 13.98 (0.82) years. In the postpolicy period from 2018 to 2023, schoolwide mobile phone bans were not associated with meaningful changes in depressive symptoms (β, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.01-1.30]), anxiety (β, 0.21 [95% CI, −0.08 to 0.50]), hostility (β, 0.23 [95% CI, −0.12 to 0.59]), and mental well-being (β, −0.52 [95% CI, −1.08 to 0.03]). Results were similar in gender-stratified analyses and for the secondary outcomes. Sensitivity analyses examining timing of implementation and more stringent phone restriction criteria were consistent with the main findings.
Conclusions and Relevance: In this repeated cross-sectional study of adolescents in Iceland, schoolwide mobile phone bans were not associated with meaningful changes in adolescent mental health or related social and behavioral outcomes. These findings suggest that school phone bans implemented in isolation may be insufficient to improve adolescent mental health at the population level.
Related
- Promoting Positive Adolescent Mental Health (PPAMH!) for School Climate: protocol for a feasibility randomised control trial in secondary schools [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
- Beyond Screen Time: Mobile Phone Use Behavior Patterns and Health Outcome among School Aged Students in Lalitpur District, Nepal
- Immigrant-origin adolescent mental and sexual health disparities in the USA: a scoping review protocol.
- Teacher and peer support and adolescent mental health and well-being in the context of cyberbullying victimization: a cross-national multilevel study
- Association of low parental mental health literacy with adolescent depression and anxiety: a large-scale cross-sectional study in Guangdong, China
BibTeX
@article{aparicio2026school,
title = {{School Phone Bans and Adolescent Mental Health in Iceland}},
author = {Elena Bonilla Aparicio and Berglind Sigmarsdottir and Erin Haskell and Ulyana Sirotina and Berglind Sveinbjornsdottir and Bryndis Bjork Asgeirsdottir and Heiddis Bjork Valdimarsdottir and Candice Lynn Odgers and Inga Dora Sigfusdottir and John Philip Allegrante and Thorhildur Halldorsdottir},
journal = {JAMA Network Open},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.40893},
url = {https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2855858},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - School Phone Bans and Adolescent Mental Health in Iceland
AU - Elena Bonilla Aparicio
AU - Berglind Sigmarsdottir
AU - Erin Haskell
AU - Ulyana Sirotina
AU - Berglind Sveinbjornsdottir
AU - Bryndis Bjork Asgeirsdottir
AU - Heiddis Bjork Valdimarsdottir
AU - Candice Lynn Odgers
AU - Inga Dora Sigfusdottir
AU - John Philip Allegrante
AU - Thorhildur Halldorsdottir
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - JAMA Network Open
DO - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.40893
UR - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2855858
AB - Importance: Concerns about adolescent smartphone use and mental health have prompted many schools to implement mobile phone bans, but evidence of their effects remains mixed. Objective: To examine whether schoolwide mobile phone bans were associated with changes in mental health and associated social and behavioral outcomes among adolescents in Iceland. Design, Setting, and Participants: This repeated cross-sectional study used difference-in-differences analyses of data from 70 schools across 3 waves of the nationwide Youth in Iceland school survey. The surveys were administered to adolescents aged 13 to 15 years in February 2016, February 2018, and November 2023. Analyses were conducted from February 1, 2025, to January 30, 2026. Exposure: Schoolwide mobile phone bans prohibiting student phone use during school hours. Between 2018 and 2023, 22 of 70 schools implemented a phone ban. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were depressive symptoms, anxiety, hostility, and mental well-being. Secondary outcomes were perceived peer support, screen use (social media use, gaming alone, gaming with friends, and video watching), and bullying (in person and cyberbullying). Results: Among 23 938 adolescent observations across the 3 study years, 11 964 (50.0%) were boys; the mean (SD) age was 13.98 (0.82) years. In the postpolicy period from 2018 to 2023, schoolwide mobile phone bans were not associated with meaningful changes in depressive symptoms (β, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.01-1.30]), anxiety (β, 0.21 [95% CI, −0.08 to 0.50]), hostility (β, 0.23 [95% CI, −0.12 to 0.59]), and mental well-being (β, −0.52 [95% CI, −1.08 to 0.03]). Results were similar in gender-stratified analyses and for the secondary outcomes. Sensitivity analyses examining timing of implementation and more stringent phone restriction criteria were consistent with the main findings. Conclusions and Relevance: In this repeated cross-sectional study of adolescents in Iceland, schoolwide mobile phone bans were not associated with meaningful changes in adolescent mental health or related social and behavioral outcomes. These findings suggest that school phone bans implemented in isolation may be insufficient to improve adolescent mental health at the population level.
SN - 2574-3805
ER -