An umbrella review of studies on child and adolescent development and screen use, published in JAMA Pediatrics, indicates a small association between screen time and poorer indicators of mental health and academic performance. The review, which compiled data from 23 meta-analyses and nearly three million children across 64 countries, found this association to be very small, accounting for around 1% of the differences observed.
Tatiana Íñiguez Berrozpe, a senior lecturer at the University of Zaragoza, described the article as methodologically sound, noting its pre-registration and assessment of study quality. However, she cautioned that the findings do not support the idea that screens are the primary cause of adolescent emotional distress, suggesting that screen use alone does not explain emotional distress or academic underperformance.
The study also suggests that the type of screen use matters more than the total hours. For instance, the association with psychological distress is stronger with mobile phones than with television or video games, and more pronounced for depressive symptoms than social anxiety. This association is also stronger in adolescents compared to younger children.
Professor Esther van Sluijs from Loughborough University noted that the study, while high-quality, cannot draw robust conclusions about specific types of screen use like social media or gaming due to insufficient data. Both Íñiguez Berrozpe and Víctor González Calatayud, a senior lecturer at the University of Murcia, highlighted that most studies included are cross-sectional, meaning they can only establish association, not causality.