Screen time doesn’t affect wellbeing

Using smartphones and other screens has little impact on the wellbeing of teenagers – even just before they go to sleep, according to a study.

Researchers at Oxford University have found little evidence to support fears that screen time damages mental health, using data from more than 17,000 teenagers.

Results suggest that the total amount of time spent on screens per a day had a limited impact on teenager’s mental health.

It also notes that digital screen use of two hours, one hour or even 30 minutes before sleeping presented no clear associations with a drop in wellbeing among teenagers.

“While psychological science can be a powerful tool for understanding the link between screen use and adolescent wellbeing, it still routinely fails to supply stakeholders and the public with high-quality, transparent and objective investigations into growing concerns about digital technologies,” said Professor Andrew Przybylski, director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute and co-author on the study, published in the Psychological Science journal.

However, a leading psychiatrist has warned the conclusions can only be limited. “The study looks at how long children spend looking at screens but not at what harmful content they might see,” said Dr Bernadka Dubicka, from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.