Research: Even a short time alone sensitizes teenagers to threats and cell phones don’t help

Jo a few an hour alone in a room sensitizes teenagers to perceive threats, according to a recent study by the University of Cambridge.

Sensitization was not mitigated by the fact that young people kept in touch with friends or family on their smartphones when they were alone.

According to the researchers, the result can shed light on why young people’s feelings of loneliness and psychological disorders have increased at the same time as physical togetherness with others has decreased and replaced by socializing over the phone.

The state of alarm caused by loneliness can eventually affect mental health.

Researchers observed the condition of young people with an experiment, where young people aged 16–19 were locked twice for 3–4 hours alone in a comfortable room.

The threat was simulated with an unpleasant sound combined with pictorial symbols.

Subjects self-reported their feelings, and in addition, their physiological stress state was monitored by measuring the electrical conductivity of the skin.

There were 18 boys and 22 girls who, according to the study, had good social relationships and no previous mental health problems.

There were books and puzzles in the room for entertainment. On the second floor, you could bring your own phone with you, which you could use to keep in touch outside the room as usual. On the second test, telephone connection to the rest of the world was not allowed.

Sleeping was forbidden.

“We observed increased vigilance after a couple of hours of isolation, also when the young people were in contact with others via smartphone and social media,” says the lead author of the research article Emily Towner in the university’s bulletin.

The research was published this week in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Isolation the effect on threat perception and anxiety has been studied in a similar way in rodents.

Based on the results, being alone affects the fear reactions of both rodents and humans.

“From an evolutionary point of view, it makes sense that when we are alone we are more alert to potential threats,” says Towner.

Stubborn and excessive fear reactions are a typical feature of anxiety, which has begun to plague young people around the world.

Mechanisms, according to Towner, the ways in which we react to signs of danger are strongly shaped during adolescence.

Then the person is also particularly socially sensitive.

“The need for social interaction is particularly strong in adolescence, and it is not clear whether socializing through devices can fulfill this need,” says the head of the study Livia Tomova.

According to Tomova, the study showed that electronic communication does not necessarily mitigate the effects that even short isolation has on teenagers.