The time spent in front of the screen is considered responsible for increasing the rate of depression among young people, for behavioral problems and for sleep deprivation. Scientists, however, argue that concrete scientific evidence is lacking in this regard.
How much does the time affect the time spent in front of the photo screen: Shutterstock
The renowned British researchers in neurosciences Susan Greenfield even said that the use of the Internet and computer games can harm the brain of teenagers. In 2013, it compared the negative effects of the time spent in front of the screen with the beginnings of climate change.
Later, in a British Medical Journal editorial, it was claimed that Greenfield’s statements, former director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, about the brain “not based on a correct scientific evaluation of evidence … and are misleading for parents and the general public”.
Another group of scientists in the UK now claims that concrete scientific evidence is lacking in the disadvantages of the time in front of the screen. Thus, a question lies on everyone’s lips: is it really as serious as it seems?
This question is trying to answer the BBC in an analysis on the long interaction of children with electronic devices such as computers, tablets, smartphones or TVs.
Contradictory data
According to the quoted source, Pete Etchells, a psychology professor at Bath Spa University, is one of the academics in the group that claims that there is not sufficient evidence.
He analyzed hundreds of studies on the time in front of the screen and mental health. In his book “Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time”He argues that the science behind the conclusions that make a sensation is contradictory and, in many cases, wrong.
“There is simply no concrete scientific evidence to support stories about the terrible consequences of the time in front of the screen“He writes.
Another research published by the American Psychology Association in 2021 presented a similar conclusion. The 14 authors, coming from different universities around the world, analyzed 33 studies published between 2015 and 2019. They found that the use of screens, including smartphones, social networks and video games, “”played an insignificant role in mental health issues”.
And, although some studies have suggested that blue light – like the one emitted by the screens – can affect how people fall asleep, because it suppresses the melatonin hormone, a 2024 analysis, which included 11 studies from all over the world, has not found general evidence that the light of the screens in the hour before bedtime can have this effect.
A big problem is that most data on the time spent in front of the screens are largely based on “self -assessment”, stresses Prof. Etchells. In other words, the researchers simply ask young people while they think they have spent in front of the screens and how they remember it made them feel.
He also argues that there are millions of possible ways to interpret these large amounts of data. “We need to be careful when analyzing correlations“He says.
For example, in a study it was suggested that loneliness was the one that affects their mental health, rather than the time in front of the screen. The attention is drawn, thus, that each factor can generate a different experience.
Positive opinions
A study by US researchers and the UK analyzed 11,500 children’s brain scans between 9 and 12, together with their health assessments and their time on screens. Although models for the use of screens were related to changes in how the brain regions connect, the study has not found evidence that the time on the screens would be related to poor mental well -being or cognitive problems, even among those who used the screens for several hours a day.
The study, which carried out from 2016 to 2018, was supervised by Professor Andrew Przybylski of Oxford University, who studied the impact of video games and social networks on mental health. His studies, revised by colleagues, indicate that both can actually increase well -being rather than affecting it.
“If you think the screens change the brain in the wrong, you would see that signal in a large set of data like this. But you don’t do it … so this idea that The screens change the brain in a constant or durable bad way, it simply does not seem to be the case”Says Prof. Etchells.
This opinion is supported by Professor Chris Chamber, the head of brain stimulation at Cardiff University, who is quoted in Professor Etchells, saying: “It would be obvious if there was a decrease. It would be easy to look at the latter, say, 15 years of research … If our cognitive system would be so fragile in the environmental changes, we would not be here. We would have been selected for extinction long ago”.
Negative opinions
There are also many people who do not agree. The UK Campaign group, Smartphone Free Childood, says 150,000 people have so far signed its pact to ban children under 14 years and to postpone access to social networks up to 16 years old.
When Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, began to investigate depression rates among US teenagers, did not intend to prove that social networks and smartphones are “terrible”, she says for the BBC.
But he discovered that he was the only common denominator. Today, she believes that the separation of children from the screens is an obvious choice and urges parents to keep children and smartphones as long as possible. “The brain (children) is more developed and more mature at 16“, She claims, adding:”And the social environment from school and groups of friends are much more stable at 16 years than at 12 “.
A Danish study published in 2024 involved 181 children from 89 families. For two weeks, half of them were limited to three hours of screen a week and were asked to hand over their tablets and smartphones. It was concluded that the reduction of screen media “positively affected the psychological symptoms of children and adolescents“and has improved”prosocial behavior“Although he added that additional research is required.
Also, a UK study in which participants were asked to register journals in front of the screen found that the greater use of social networks aligned with the greater depression feelings related to girls. “Take that formula: more time online, usually alone with a screen; less time to sleep; less time with friends in person. This is a terrible formula for mental health“Says Professor Twenge.
However, the official tips on the time that a child should spend in front of the screen are currently inconsistent. Neither the American Academy of Pediatrics, nor the Royal Pediatrics and Health College in the UK does not recommend specific time limits for children. The World Health Organization, in the meantime, suggests that there is no time spent on the screen for children under one year and no more than an hour a day for children under four years (only that advice is made to prioritize physical activity).
The conclusion of the BBC journalists is that “There is simply not enough scientific evidence to make a definitive recommendation, and this divides the scientific community – despite a strong social pressure to limit children’s access.”.
