The associations between screen time and mental health in adolescents: a systematic review
Santos RMS, Mendes CG, Sen Bressani GY, de Alcantara Ventura S, de Almeida Nogueira YJ, de Miranda DM, Romano-Silva MA
BMC psychology · 139 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Systematic review (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2023-04-20 · BMC Psychol · vol. 11 · issue 1 · p. 127
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Cited
- 308 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 24.5× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 94 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Child Development and Digital Technology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- screen time, adolescent mental health, smartphone use, social media use, depression, psychological well-being, sex differences
- MeSH
- humans, depression, mental health, adolescent, female, smartphone, screen time, psychological well-being
7 authors
From BR
- Renata Maria Silva Santos · correspondingUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- Camila Guimarães MendesUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- Guilherme Yanq Sen BressaniUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- Samara de Alcântara VenturaUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- Yago Jean de Almeida NogueiraUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- Débora Marques de MirandaUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Abstract
Background
Adolescents have extensive use of screens and, they have common complains related to mental health. Here a systematic review was done to understand the association between screen time and adolescent's mental health.
Method
This review was conducted in compliance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses - PRISMA. An update search was performed in January 2023 with the following keywords: "screen time," "adolescent," and "mental health" on PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus databases.
Results
50 articles were included, most have found associations between screen exposure and mental health in adolescents. The most used device by adolescents was the smartphone and the use on weekdays was associated with diminished mental well-being. Social media use was negatively associated with mental well-being and, in girls, associated at higher risk for depression.
Conclusion
Excessive screen time in adolescents seems associated with mental health problems. Given the profusion and disparity of the results, additional studies are needed to clarify elements such as the screen content or the interaction of adolescents with different screen devices.
Systematic review registration
PROSPERO CRD42022302817.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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