Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Wellbeing: Summary of the Evidence

It is no secret that rates of anxiety and depression among school-aged children and teens in the United States are at an all-time high. Recognizing this, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children’s Hospital Association issued, in 2021, a joint statement to the Biden administration that child and adolescent mental health be declared a “national emergency.”1

source https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(23)00111-7/fulltext?rss=yes