Smartphones in the Classroom: What Clinicians Should Know About Adolescent School-Day Screen Use

Adolescent smartphone use has been linked to a range of physical, mental, and academic outcomes, yet objective data on in-school use have been limited. Recently published in JAMA, this research letter leverages passive smartphone sensing technology from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to quantify how much time US adolescents spend on their smartphones during school hours and which app categories dominate that use. This brief quiz highlights key findings from the study to help clinicians better understand contemporary patterns of school-day smartphone use and their potential implications for adolescent health and development.