A study published in the medical journal JAMA on Wednesday showed a surprising revelation: Longer screen times at the age of 10 is are not connected to suicidal thoughts later in life.

Instead, suicidal behavior was associated with those who were addicted to screens and could not stop using them.

The study found that children that were more addicted to phone use were 2 or 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts.

Addictive behavior before the brain is fully developed is much harder to control.

The ones to blame for this addiction are the big tech companies who design devices and social media platforms, says said Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer at the American Psychological Association.

The child’s addiction to the screen tends to cause parents to try and limit their screen use, which may be harder for single parents and low income families.

The new study will not silence worries on screen time, which is a major health issue in the US. Teens in the US spend around 4.8 hours on social media platforms like Tiktok, Youtube, and Instagram.

The the book “The Anxious Generation”, by Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, highlights the early appearance of smartphones to be “a key inflection point”.

“We have known for over a decade now that screen time is a flawed measure, but we continue to tally time spent on screens instead of asking how young people are spending their time online and why they want to be there,” says Candice L. Odgers, professor of psychological science in informatics at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Jason Nagata published study’s but was not involved in the JAMA study. He and found a connection between high amounts of screen time at age 9 and suicidal thoughts 2 years later.