The Impact of Screen Time on Mental Health: What Parents Need to Know
It feels like children and adolescents are never far away from a screen. Computers, phones, laptops, and tablets. These devices offer education and entertainment while facilitating greater connectivity in communities across the world.
Yet excessive screen time has become a growing concern. It feels like the tide is turning as phones are banned in schools, and pediatricians nationwide are increasingly sounding the alarms around screen time.
In particular, a focus is developing on the relationship between screen time and mental health.
Understanding these effects is crucial for parents as they seek to help their children navigate the digital world safely.
Screen time is a part of our lives, and children and teenagers can find great enjoyment and positivity through screen use.
Parents who try to limit screen time heavily will find an impossible task, and doing so may remove some healthy, helpful activities. Yet, we do need to understand some of the risks associated with excessive screen time and do what we can as parents to mitigate against them.
Let’s discuss the effects of excessive screen time on young people’s mental health. We’ll then provide some practical tips for managing screen use.
Understanding Screen Time
Screen time refers to any time spent using devices with screens - phones, tablets, computers, and TVs. We can break down screen time into three main categories:
Educational use - Using screens for learning purposes, perhaps as part of schoolwork.
Recreational use - Using screens for activities like gaming, watching videos, or browsing social media sites for entertainment.
Social use - Communicating with friends and family through messaging apps or video calls.
It’s important to differentiate between these three because nobody suggests that screen time is universally bad. Of course, even activities listed as ‘recreational’ above, like gaming, could also be a social activity. The takeaway here is that there’s not a clear-cut distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ screen use.
Still, a breakdown of screen use can be revealing.
According to a 2022 report by Common Sense Media, teenagers spend an average of more than 8 hours on screens for entertainment every day. This statistic highlights the significant role screens play in youths' lives. This is not even taking into account any time spent on ‘good’ use of screens, such as complementing learning experiences or building social connections.
The amount of time in itself underscores the importance of understanding its impact.
The Impact of Excessive Screen Time on Mental Health
Screen time can negatively impact mental health in several ways. The purpose here is not to oversimplify and demonize screen use or guarantee certain consequences. Instead, it’s about beginning a learning journey where we, as parents, take a more active role in understanding the potential effects of excessive screen use.
Effects on Sleep
Excessive screen time can disrupt natural sleep patterns, especially before bedtime. Screens emit blue light that interferes with the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone we all rely on to regulate our sleep-wake cycles.
A study published in the journal Pediatrics found that increased screen time is associated with delayed bedtimes and fewer hours of sleep. The authors summarize: “Between 50% and 90% of school-aged children and adolescents do not get as much sleep as they may need.The pervasive use of screen-based media is a likely contributor to widespread sleep insufficiency”.
There are still many unknowns. It's hard to tell if screen time directly causes sleep problems or if it's just related to them. Is it the blue light issue? Is it the potentially addictive qualities of social media? Or is it something else? What is clear is that screen time in the bedroom space leads to poorer sleep patterns. The Canadian Pediatric Society suggests we avoid screens for at least 1 hour before bedtime, given the potential for stimulating and melatonin-suppressing effects.
Getting enough sleep is vital for a child’s development and critical for mental health generally. Anything that is detrimental to a good night’s sleep is, therefore, harmful to a child, as insufficient sleep can lead to a whole host of other psychological problems.
Emotional, Behavioural, Social, and Cognitive Issues
Excessive screen time can negatively impact children's and adolescents' mental health and development in multiple ways. It's important to recognize that these effects vary across different age groups—preschoolers, children, tweens, and teens—each with unique vulnerabilities.
Let's explore how excessive screen use influences emotional, behavioural, social, and cognitive aspects at different developmental stages.
Preschoolers
For preschoolers aged 2-5, screen time can interfere with crucial developmental milestones. At this stage, children learn best through direct interactions with caregivers and their immediate environment.
As such, screen exposure cuts into that time, potentially impeding language development, social skills, and emotional regulation. Young children may become irritable when overexposed to screens as they struggle to process the highly stimulating content.
School-aged Children
In school-aged children (6-12), excessive screen use, particularly TV viewing, can contribute to attention problems and hinder academic performance. A study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health found that children aged 8-11 who spent more than two hours a day on screens performed worse on cognitive tests.
We should note that these studies are imperfect. It’s incredibly difficult to determine causality or pinpoint precisely why students may perform poorly on cognitive tests.
Yet we do know that elementary school is a key developmental stage for children.
At this stage, children are developing critical thinking skills and require engagement in activities that promote focus and cognitive development. Overindulgence in screen time can detract from homework, reading, and imaginative play, which are essential for healthy brain development.
Even at this early age, there’s a link between excessive screen time and depression, too.
Tweens and Teens
For tweens and teens, the impact of screen time on mental health becomes more pronounced, especially as it relates to anxiety and depression. Adolescents are at a stage where peer relationships and social acceptance are vital to their sense of self. The digital world of social media, accessed through screens, has opened up a whole new arena for these relationships to play out.
Excessive use of social media and other screen-based activities can worsen feelings of loneliness or inadequacy. A JAMA Pediatrics study spells out the consequences: adolescents who spent more than three hours a day on screens exhibited higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms.
Again, studies are ongoing, and it’s challenging to pinpoint precisely what causes these heightened symptoms. We can hypothesize that exposure to cyberbullying and the pressures of online social comparison might be significant factors in the detrimental effects of screen time. In this sense, the concept of screen time may not in itself be the villain here. Instead, the nature of screen use is the culprit. Again, this is not completely understood at this time.
The content teenagers are consuming also plays a role in harming mental health. Exposure to unrealistic body images, negative news (doom-scrolling), or distressing videos can heighten anxiety and depressive feelings.
It’s a pure time calculation as well; time spent consuming this content often replaces time that could be spent on other protective activities that guard against the very same mental health issues; physical exercise, face-to-face interactions, and a regular, healthy sleep schedule.
Understanding these multifaceted impacts of excessive screen time across emotional, behavioural, social, and cognitive domains is crucial. By recognizing how screen use affects children differently at each developmental stage, parents can tailor their approach to managing screen time effectively.
Benefits of Screen Time
We haven’t touched at all on the potential benefits of screen time for children of different ages. It’s important we focus on these benefits since the reality of our age is that screen time is fundamental to our daily lives. We can’t avoid this as part of our existence. So, understanding some of the benefits of screen time is important to better shape our interactions with screens.
Screens can be valuable tools for learning and development, providing access to educational content to boost literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking skills.
Educational apps and programs can support school curricula and stimulate intellectual curiosity.
Screen time can facilitate social connections, allowing children and teens to maintain relationships with friends and family.
Interactive games and creative applications encourage play and can boost imagination and problem-solving abilities.
Therefore, screen time isn't inherently harmful; it's the excessive and unbalanced use that poses risks. By finding a healthy balance—a deliberate and mindful approach—parents can help their children utilize the technology available to them while minimizing potential drawbacks.
Finding the Balance: Tips for Parents
Here are five things you can begin to action today to build a better relationship with screens in your household.
1. Setting Reasonable limits
Follow guidelines for recommended screen use for different ages. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends the following screen time guidelines for children:
Under 2 years old: No screen time except for video-chatting with caring adults
2–5 years old: Less than one hour per day
Older than 5 years old: Less than two hours per day
Some parents reading this will immediately recognize that less than two hours a day is unrealistic for older children. After all, teens use computers at school and for homework before we even consider some phone time or TV watching in the evening.
Perhaps more important here is to put in place some more reasonable limits. It is also important to monitor the impact of screens on your teens and the type of screen time that they are most engaged in.
The CPS also recommends that children have daily screen-free times, especially for family meals and book-sharing. They also suggest avoiding screens for at least one hour before bedtime. These are useful starting points for parents looking for attainable targets to limit screen use.
You can also establish a set of rules for your household regarding screen use. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a handy, interactive tool to create a personalized family media plan. You can specify when and how certain devices can be used.
Above all, the first step the CPS recommends is to be mindful of screen use. Just start to take notice of the household relationship with screens. Even from this foundation, you may be able to spot some simple ways to cut down.
2. Encouraging Alternative Activities
This will differ from family to family and from household to household, but it is important to encourage other activities that can replace screen time.
Nobody is saying that it’s easy to pry your children and teens away from screen use. And, again, it’s part of their lives and the world they live in. And yet, we must all do what we can to encourage other activities alongside screen use. It’s not ‘one or the other’ but a challenge of finding balance.
Ultimately, it is important for parents to work with their children to find ways of ensuring daily physical activity that they can enjoy and engage in as much as possible, given the family’s unique situation.
Whether that’s going for family walks or signing up for the local kids’ soccer team, it’s all about finding things that they love and will want to engage in as much as possible. Looking within the school setting can be very helpful for busy families who might not be able to manage extracurriculars on top of work and other familial responsibilities.
Beyond physical activity, try to encourage any interest in non-screen related hobbies: music, art projects, or board games, for example.
These activities offer opportunities that are beneficial to your child’s mental health because they allow them to relax, get moving, or socialize without the negative associations of the screen.
3. Modeling Healthy Behaviour
Practice what you preach. As you well know, your children are keenly aware of when you are being hypocritical as a parent, and this will undermine any efforts to limit screen time.
Do your best to:
Demonstrate balanced screen use by limiting your own device time.
Designate times, such as during meals or before bedtime, when you all put screens away (as potentially set out in your family plan!)
Actively support those alternative activities mentioned above.
The good news is that modelling healthy behaviours around screen time for your children will also benefit you and your wellbeing.
4. Ensuring Quality Content
As we’ve explored, it’s not always the screen time itself that is harmful but the nature of what children are watching or engaging with.
Do what you can to ensure that children are consuming ‘quality’ content.
This means:
Selecting apps and programs that are age-appropriate and educational
Watching programs together. Engage in meaningful discussions to enhance understanding and critical thinking (making viewing a learning experience)
Learning about the concept of digital citizenship together.
Common Sense Media has put together some supplementary advice designed to help parents assess the quality of a child’s digital media use.
5. Promoting Good Sleep Hygiene
The hour before bedtime should be a sacrosanct, screen-free time. The bedroom itself should ideally be a no-go zone for screens. Sleep is such an important aspect of youth development that you need to do everything you can to promote a good night’s sleep. Keep screens out of children’s bedrooms to reduce any temptation to scroll or watch videos. Instead, encourage reading or other calming activities as part of their nighttime routine.
How the Ontario Psychological Association Can Help
The Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) offers resources to support parents in managing their children's screen time and mental health.
Access to professionals - If you feel that your child is facing mental health issues, they may need to see a psychologist. Use the Find a Psychologist service to connect with qualified Ontario psychologists experienced in child and adolescent mental health.
Educational materials and resources - Explore articles and guidelines on healthy technology use and mental well-being.
Summing Up Screen Time
Prioritizing mental health means engaging in open conversations with your children about their screen use and online experiences. It involves being attentive to signs of distress or changes in behaviour that may indicate mental health concerns. Utilizing resources like those offered by the OPA can provide additional support and guidance.
Building a healthy relationship with screens is essential. After all, they’re not going away any time soon.
By focusing on mental health and promoting a balanced approach to screen time, we can help our children develop resilience, strong social skills, and a positive sense of self.
Check out our blog for more insights into current issues affecting mental health.