Screen time has little effect on well-being, study finds

Teenagers’ exposure to television, computers, smartphones and other digital screens has little effect on their well-being, a new study has found.

Contrary to public debate on whether screen time affects the psychological health of young people or not, a group of Oxford University researchers revealed that the amount of time spent in front of a screen, even minutes before bedtime, has little effect on teenagers.

As digital screens have become more popular and more deeply entrenched in the modern person’s life, fears have arisen on the impact the devices would have on children and adolescents. Studies have been conducted to prove that the fears are well placed, showing evidence that children are indeed negatively affected in relation to the amount of time they spend on the gadgets.

However, the study: Screens, Teens, and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence from Three Time-Use-Diary Studies, shows there is no clear-cut evidence on how teenagers are affected. The scientists studied more than 17,000 adolescents to get this information.

LITTLE IMPACT

“In this research, we focused on the relations between digital engagement and psychological well-being using both time-use diaries and retrospective self-report data obtained from adolescents of three different countries—Ireland, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Across all data sets, our aim was to determine the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of these relations, with a particular focus on the effects of digital engagement before bedtime,” the authors said.

"Implementing best practice statistical and methodological techniques we found little evidence for substantial negative associations between digital-screen engagement and adolescent well-being," said Amy Orben, a Researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and College Lecturer at the Queen's College, University of Oxford.

“Analyzing three different datasets, which include improved measurements of screen time, we found little clear-cut evidence that screen time decreases adolescent well-being, even if the use of digital technology occurs directly before bedtime," said Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the OII and co-author on the study.

The research found that adolescents' total screen time per day had little impact on their mental health, both on weekends and weekdays.

It also found that the use of digital screens 2 hours, 1 hour, or 30 minutes before bedtime didn't have clear associations with decreases in adolescent well-being, even though this is often taken as a fact by media reports and public debates.

The researchers were also able to create a comprehensive picture of teens' well-being, examining measures of psychosocial functioning, depression symptoms, self-esteem, and mood, with data provided by both young people and their caregivers.