19:38 17-12-2025

Screen time and mental health: what the best evidence shows

© Dasha Sysoeva

Large meta-analyses show screen time has small effects on mental health for most, with risks concentrated in problematic use. Learn what the research says.

Many of us scold ourselves for those extra minutes on the phone and wonder whether constant scrolling harms our minds and bodies. The literature is vast—hundreds of thousands of papers link screen time to depression, anxiety, poor sleep, obesity, diabetes, even suicide risk. It sounds unsettling, yet the key question sits underneath: what comes first—the screen, or problems that are already there?

Most of these studies capture correlation rather than cause. To get closer to reality, researchers turn to large meta-analyses that pool high-quality data. And that’s where the stark narrative begins to look far less dramatic.

What large meta-analyses show

One of the most striking efforts, conducted in 2019 by Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski, combed through a huge trove of adolescent surveys. Comparing the influence of more than 20,000 factors, they found that screen time accounted for just 0.4% of the variation in adolescent well-being—an effect on par with eating potatoes.

By contrast, being bullied by peers had more than four times the negative impact, while getting enough sleep and eating a proper breakfast offered far more noticeable gains.

Taken together, the data suggest that, on average, the influence of screens is modest—both for better and for worse.

Why it’s so complicated

Even these results are still correlations. Everyday life is messy, and clean cause-and-effect is hard to pin down. The very idea of “screen time” adds another layer of confusion.

Under one label sit television, social media, video games, e-books, and more—and there’s little reason to assume they act the same way. Many studies simply count hours in front of a screen, often relying on self-reports, which blunts precision.

Even within social media, experiences diverge: late-night political arguments and friendly chats are unlikely to land the same. A 2024 meta-analysis in SSM – Mental Health reported small positive correlations when platforms are used for communication or maintaining wide online networks, and small negative ones when use centers on social comparison or what researchers describe as problematic use—loosely akin to dependence.

What to do with these findings

Fears about children’s health push governments—Britain and Australia among them—toward screen-time caps and even partial bans on certain technologies. Yet excessive caution can also mean losing out on timely information, connection, entertainment, and more.

Extracting the clearest message from the research, the picture looks like this: for most people, screens have a small impact, while genuine risks concentrate in groups prone to excessive or problematic use. Those are the cases that warrant deeper study and tailored support.

So, should we worry about screen time? The answer has layers. If devices start to intrude on daily life, it’s sensible to reset habits or talk to a professional. For the majority, though, screen time is far from the main risk factor—despite the scary headlines.