The Screen Time Linked to Teen Unhappiness

The term “screen time,” or “screen use,” refers to time spent using an electronic device with a screen, such as a computer, television, smartphone, or video game.

* * *

Completely giving up the use of screens is not the best choice for achieving happiness.

The happiest teenagers use screens for about one hour a day, according to a recent study. More than this amount of time leads to a steady rise in levels of unhappiness.

These findings came from a study of more than one million U.S. teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18. The study found that the more time teenagers spent in front of screens—using social media, texting, or gaming—the less happy they were.

Their happier peers invested more time in reading, playing sports, and direct, face-to-face social interactions.

Professor Jean M. Twenge, the study's lead author, believes that screen use leads to depression, although the study cannot prove this:

“Although this study cannot establish causation, several other studies have shown that greater use of social media leads to unhappiness, while unhappiness does not lead to greater use of social media.”

Interestingly, however, completely giving up screen use was not the best choice for happiness—slightly less than one hour a day turned out to be the optimal amount.

Professor Twenge says:

“The key to using digital media and achieving happiness is limited use.

Aim to spend no more than two hours a day using digital media, and try to double the amount of time you spend meeting friends face-to-face and exercising—two activities reliably associated with genuine happiness.”

After 2012, teenagers' self-esteem, life satisfaction, and happiness all fell sharply compared with similar age groups from the 1990s.

The ubiquity of smartphones today is probably no coincidence, Professor Twenge says:

“By far the greatest changes in teenagers' lives between 2012 and 2016 were the increase in the amount of time they spent using digital media and the corresponding decline in face-to-face social activities and sleep.

The arrival of the smartphone is the most plausible explanation for the sudden deterioration in teenagers' psychological well-being.”

The study (Twenge et al., 2018)

Source: PsyBlog

Image: by Jacob Ufkes on Unsplash