Gen Z now reports higher rates of loneliness than any other generation, and parents are more worried than ever about social media. So what actually protects young people: screen time limits, phone-free schools, or something else? The answer may be one we’ve known about for decades: secure attachment, and its power to protect kids against loneliness.
In this episode, child and adolescent psychiatrists Gene Beresin, MD, MA, and Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH, make the case for a secure, trusting bond between a child and the adults who raise them.
Gene and Khadijah explain what secure attachment is, how it develops, and why it’s never too late to build. They walk through the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness and describe how loneliness shows up differently in young children and teens, from clinginess and stomachaches to withdrawal and “nobody likes me.” They explore how secure attachment helps protect kids against both loneliness and social media misuse, and why social media isn’t all bad. They also name the online stressors parents should know about, including FOMO, ghosting, catfishing, and constant comparison.
The episode closes with everyday ways to strengthen connection at home: slowing down, naming feelings, repairing after mistakes, and asking kids to “walk me through your day.” Gene and Khadijah also share where they land on screen time limits and phones in schools, and they talk about the people who were secure bases for them growing up.
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