The link between screen time and mental health may be overestimated. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Children's screen time is recommended to be limited, as sitting on a phone for long periods is considered harmful. But what if the impact of gadgets on mental health has been overestimated?
Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute examined data from more than 21,000 twins to assess the link between screen time and depression and anxiety.
The scientists compared twins from the same family, one of whom spent more time with gadgets than the other. The children were followed from the age of nine, tracking their condition in adolescence and adulthood.
The most pronounced link was found in adolescence and with the use of interactive digital services: video games, chats and the internet.
For passive activities such as watching videos, the link was significantly weaker or absent altogether.
The differences were especially noticeable among 15-year-olds. Those who spent more than six hours a day on interactive activities more often reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. In addition, their likelihood of receiving one of these diagnoses was more than twice as high.
But when the scientists compared children from the same family, the link between screen time and mental health weakened, especially in identical twins with an almost identical set of genes.
However, the association did not disappear completely. The researchers believe that screen time matters, but its impact on mental health largely depends on heredity and family environment.
It cannot be said that screen time has no effect on the psyche at all. Interactive activities in adolescence were still associated with an increased likelihood of mental problems in the future.
The study has limitations. The data were self-reported by participants, so the scientists could not precisely establish what exactly the teenagers were doing on their phones.
"Future recommendations should not focus exclusively on how much time children and adolescents spend in front of screens," believes study co-author Emma Frans.
According to her, to give more well-founded recommendations, it is necessary to understand what exactly young people do online, why they do it, and what individual and family factors may influence their well-being.
Large amounts of screen time can indeed have a detrimental effect on a person's condition, but not on its own. Kursiv previously wrote that it is usually accompanied by the displacement of sleep in favor of the phone and a lack of physical activity.
If the article causes you anxiety, discuss it with an artificial psychologist.