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These bright screens, all this stimulation and data, and all these young developing brains. This is not a good mix, according to a new study on the population.
Children and teens who spend more hours a day watching TV or in front of a smartphone or other device exhibit higher levels of anxiety and depression and have less curiosity and self-control , according to the new study published in the newspaper Preventive medicine reports.
The threshold is one hour a day, and all the time after, is linked to increasing problems, according to both authors.
"These findings show a general negative relationship between screen use and psychological well-being in children and adolescents," the researchers write.
The entire population was the massive national child health survey of 2016, administered by the US Census Bureau. The two authors, Jean Twenge of the State University of San Diego and W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia, compared the temporal responses to the screen in the US. investigation with other measures of health.
The data included more than 40,000 children in separate households and their caretakers. Developmental issues that may have skewed results, including autism, blindness, deafness, Down syndrome, intellectual disability and other conditions, were excluded from the population.
The measures included measures of anxiety and depression diagnoses; whether the teenagers saw a mental health professional or took medication for a psychological problem; and among the youngest children who have the ability to maintain self-control – their likelihood of losing their cool and the ease with which they change their tasks.
In total, they compiled a score of "well-being".
The survey has crossed this well-being with the total daily screen time.
The average total screen time for all children, aged 2 to 17, was 3.2 hours per day. For ages two to five, the average was 2.28 hours, mainly television and video games; among 14-to-17-year-olds, this daily time has increased on average to 4.59 hours, of which more than half represent electronic devices such as smartphones.
However, some children spent at least seven hours a day, between television and digital trinkets. At the highest levels were the most important problems – although even an hour per hour showed a statistically significant decline in well-being, the researchers reported.
"After an hour of daily use, more daily screen hours were associated with a loss of psychological well-being, including less curiosity, less self-control, and more distraction." , more difficult friends, less emotional stability and an inability to complete tasks, "says the newspaper.
Aside from the type of devices, the study does not seem to extrapolate the type of time spent in front of screens (eg, social media, games, types of television programs).
The study hypothesized some of the underlying causes among older adolescents in the study group. For example, increasing screen time could be part of Internet addiction, excessive gambling, and problematic use of social media. The peak of screen time may also be related to poorer sleep time and quality, as well as less positive social interactions face-to-face, when smartphones or other devices are used. devices are present, according to the newspaper.
This study is only the latest in a growing bibliography that identifies some of the harmful aspects of screen time. The document points out that the World Health Organization has included a video game disorder in its latest revision of the International Classification of Diseases earlier this year.
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