The DOI matches its Crossref record; 72 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 1 of the 77 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies
Open accessAbstract
An increase in time spent on screen-based technologies has been suggested to underlie recent increases in mental health problems among young people. However, this hypothesis has primarily been based on the findings of cross-sectional studies. The aim of the current review was to provide a comprehensive overview of longitudinal studies examining the relationship between screen time and internalising mental health symptoms. PsycINFO, PubMed/Medline and EMBASE were systematically searched for articles published up to August 2020. Thirty-five studies, with sample sizes ranging from 126 to 12,866 participants, met inclusion criteria. The association between screen time and subsequent depressive symptoms was found to be small to very small in size. There was limited evidence of any reverse association between depressive symptoms and subsequent screen time. The association between screen time and depressive symptoms varied between different devices and uses. In contrast to depressive symptoms, evidence to support longitudinal associations between screen time and other internalising mental health symptoms, including anxiety, self-esteem, and general internalising problems, was lacking. Together, these results suggest that the impact of increased screen time on the prevalence of mental health problems among young people is likely to be negligible or small. Further longitudinal studies that examine screen content and motivations underlying screen use are required to better discern any relationship between screen time and internalising mental health symptoms.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This systematic review of 35 longitudinal studies found that screen time is associated with subsequent depressive symptoms only small to very small in size, with limited evidence of a reverse association and little support for anxiety, self-esteem, or general internalising symptoms. The authors conclude that increased screen time is unlikely to account for substantial rises in youth mental health problems and call for research on screen content and motivations.
Key findings
- Across 35 longitudinal studies with sample sizes from 126 to 12,866 participants, the association between screen time and subsequent depressive symptoms was small to very small; among comparable studies, effect sizes were around r = 0.10, and some studies reported non-significant associations.
- Evidence for the reverse association—depressive symptoms predicting later screen time—was limited; most studies found no significant association, although some analyses using sophisticated methods reported bidirectional associations.
- Associations varied by device/use: there was relatively stronger evidence for mobile phone and computer/internet use with subsequent depression, limited evidence for television and videogames, and mixed evidence for social media. Evidence for longitudinal associations with anxiety, self-esteem, and other internalising symptoms was lacking or limited.
- Sex differences were apparent across the body of work but inconsistent in direction and medium type; few studies analysed sex separately.
Methods
- Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines, registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020180145). PsycINFO, PubMed/Medline, and EMBASE were searched from 2005 to 4 August 2020, plus hand searches; 5505 records were identified and 35 studies met inclusion criteria.
- Eligible studies used a longitudinal design with at least six months between time points, included young people aged 10–24 years, measured screen time duration/frequency, and used validated continuous measures of internalising mental health symptoms.
- Because of wide variation in models and outcomes, the authors conducted a narrative synthesis rather than a meta-analysis; effect sizes were estimated for a subset of studies examining total screen time and depression.
Limitations
- Stated in the paper: all included studies used self-report or parent-report measures of screen time and mental health; no studies used clinician-rated mental health measures, and only one used ecological momentary assessment for screen time. There was variation in definitions and measures of screen time, few longitudinal studies on smartphone and social media use, and most studies examined depression rather than anxiety, self-esteem, or other internalising symptoms.
- Stated in the paper: procedural quality varied widely; most studies did not report whether dropouts differed from remaining participants or provide baseline participation rates, and only one study met all nine quality criteria. Quantitative synthesis was judged impractical and potentially misleading due to diverse models and outcomes.
- Evident from the text: included studies varied substantially in statistical rigour, with some omitting relevant paths or overadjusting for covariates, which may bias estimates; the review is narrative and cannot resolve inconsistent sex or device-specific findings.
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Claims the paper makes
62 Not checked yet · 35 No basis given · 19 Own result · 15 Own method · 11 Own interpretation · 1 Not supported · accuracy not yet measured
At least one cited source doesn’t support this claim or points to a different paper, and none confirmed it — see the verdicts below.
In the paper
“One study examined the association between anxiety disorder symptoms and subsequent screen time (Zink et al., 2019) and found no association between these variables.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.2. Television/video
What the sources say
- Disputedcites Zink et al., 2019 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Results section on baseline emotional health and screen behavior at follow-up reports that adolescents with baseline generalized anxiety disorder symptoms had higher odds of high computer/videogame use one year later (adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.09–1.71). Although it found no significant association with subsequent television viewing, the paper contradicts the unqualified claim of no association with subsequent screen time. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.92)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Disputed
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This association appeared to be moderated by sex, physical activity levels, and BMI.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.8. Summary
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, it is of note that studies were highly variable with regard to the quality of analyses performed and reported.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.7. Magnitude of effects
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The association between screen time and depressive symptoms varied between different devices and uses.”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.8. Summary · plain
“The association between screen time and depression also varied between”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > Abstract
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.8. Summary · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The association between screen time and subsequent depressive symptoms was found to be small to very small in size.”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.7. Magnitude of effects · plain
“the size of the effects for this subset of articles ranges from small to very small”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.8. Summary · hedged
“There was some evidence to suggest a very small to small positive association between total screen time and subsequent depressive symptoms.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > Abstract
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.7. Magnitude of effects · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of these, four studies found that total screen time at baseline positively correlated with subsequent depressive symptoms”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3. Depression 3.3.1. Total screen time
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In contrast to depressive symptoms, evidence to support longitudinal associations between screen time and other internalising mental health symptoms, including anxiety, self-esteem, and general internalising problems, was lacking.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The complexity and range of the longitudinal models, the number of moderating variables, and the often incomplete reporting of the results made it difficult to extract comparable data when estimating the size of the effects.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.7. Magnitude of effects
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“There was limited evidence of any reverse association between depressive symptoms and subsequent screen time.”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.8. Summary · hedged
“Relatively fewer studies found evidence for the reverse association of depressive symptoms on subsequent screen time.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.8. Summary · hedged
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of these, three studies found that the depressive symptoms at baseline were positively associated with total screen time at follow-up”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3. Depression 3.3.1. Total screen time
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Probably not a substantial claim. 25
- It may state two separate claims as one. 49
- The quote only partly states this claim. 6
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The most common internalising mental health symptoms were depression (n = 23) and anxiety (n = 10) followed by self-esteem (n = 4).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.2. Study characteristics
plainn = 23- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Based on these analyses, the size of the effects for this subset of articles ranges from small to very small, although with stronger associations for the relationship between screen time to depression, rather than the reverse”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.7. Magnitude of effects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of these, six studies found no association”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.2. Television/video · plain
“while three studies reported that television/video viewing at baseline was positively associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.2. Television/video
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.2. Television/video · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of these, four studies reported no association between videogame use at baseline and subsequent depressive symptoms”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.6. Videogames · plain
“A fifth study reported that videogame use at baseline was positively associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.6. Videogames · plain
“while a sixth study reported that time spent playing games on the internet at baseline was negatively associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.6. Videogames
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.6. Videogames · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of these, three studies found no association between computer/internet use at baseline and subsequent depressive symptoms”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.3. Computer/internet · plain
“Two studies found a positive association between computer/internet use at baseline and depressive symptoms at followup”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.3. Computer/internet · plain
“A seventh study found no association between computer use on weekdays and subsequent depressive symptoms, and a small, positive association between weekend computer use and subsequent depressive symptoms”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.3. Computer/internet
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.3. Computer/internet · plain
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Three studies reported no association between social media use and subsequent depressive symptoms”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.5. Social media · plain
“A fourth study found a small, positive association between the frequency of Instagram browsing and subsequent depressive symptoms”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.5. Social media
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.5. Social media · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Effect sizes were not able to be calculated for all studies due to wide variation in models fitted, in terms of types of models, the paths incorporated, and the way in which effects were reported.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 2.5. Data extraction
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Two studies found a significant positive association between mobile phone use and subsequent depressive symptoms”
- Also stated in: § 3.3.4. Mobile phone · plain
“A third study found no association between daily time spent texting at baseline and subsequent depressive symptoms”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.4. Mobile phone
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Also stated in: § 3.3.4. Mobile phone · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In total, 17 studies examined the impact of screen time at baseline on subsequent level or change in mental health symptoms, 6 studies examined the impact of internalising mental health symptoms at baseline on subsequent screen time, and 12 studies examined bidirectional relationships.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.2. Study characteristics
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Seven studies examined other internalising symptoms, including general internalising or emotional problems and psychological wellbeing.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.2. Study characteristics
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Many studies were conducted in the United States (14/ 35); sample sizes ranged from 126 to 12,866 participants; the majority (29/35) were generally evenly split between male and female participants.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.2. Study characteristics
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Both studies found no significant association in either direction.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.5. Social media
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Boers et al., 2020
- Not checked yetcites Coyne et al., 2020 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Two studies found no association between total screen time and subsequent internalising symptoms (Allen & Vella, 2015;Perrino et al., 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.6. Other internalising symptoms 3.6.1. Total screen time
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The quote only partly states this claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“There was some evidence that self-esteem is positively associated with subsequent computer/internet use, negatively associated with subsequent videogame use, and not associated with subsequent mobile phone use.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.5.6. Summary
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Two studies found no association between television viewing and subsequent anxiety symptoms (Boers et al., 2020;Khouja et al., 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.2. Television/video
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Boers et al., 2020
- Not checked yetcites Khouja et al., 2019 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“One study (Zink et al., 2019) found that symptoms of Social Phobia and Generalised Anxiety Disorder, but not Panic Disorder, were positively associated with subsequent total screen time (excluding television) at follow-up in unadjusted models, and in models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, SES, physical activity and BMI percentile.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.1. Total screen time
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Zink et al., 2019 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“One study reported no association between these variables (Khouja et al., 2019)”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.4. Mobile phone
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Khouja et al., 2019 source
plain- Asserted: fails — The authors may not put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“One study reported no association between videogame use, and subsequent anxiety symptoms (Boers et al., 2020)”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.6. Videogames
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Boers et al., 2020
plain- Asserted: fails — The authors may not put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The authors may not put it forward as true. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“Adjusted models were smaller and non-significant for symptoms specific to Panic Disorder.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.1. Total screen time
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Zink et al., 2019 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“There were no significant associations between television viewing, and subsequent Generalised Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia symptoms in unadjusted models, and a small, negative association between television viewing and subsequent Social Phobia symptoms in adjusted models.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.2. Television/video
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Zink et al., 2019 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“while the second study reported that the association between time spent playing videogames and subsequent anxiety symptoms was positive for females, but negative for males (Ohannessian, 2018).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.6. Videogames
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Ohannessian, 2018 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The duration of follow-up across studies ranged from six months to 12 years.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.2. Study characteristics
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Evidence regarding the association between anxiety and subsequent total screen time was mixed, with one study reporting no association between these variables, and a second study reporting a positive association between these variables.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.4.7. Summary
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, the evidence was largely inconsistent as to the direction, and medium type, but nevertheless was apparent across the body of work.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For instance, while there was some evidence of positive associations between both computer/internet and mobile phone use and subsequent depression, there was little evidence of positive associations between television or videogame use, and subsequent depression or other internalising problems.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the relationship between screen time and depressive symptoms varied between different types of screen devices and uses, with stronger relationships seen for newer forms of technology, such as mobile phones and computer/internet, compared to older technologies, such as television and videogames.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The authors found no association between television viewing at baseline and both internalising symptoms and psychological wellbeing at follow-up.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.6.2. Television/video
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Poulain et al., 2019 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“This study found no association between mobile phone use at baseline and internalising symptoms at follow-up, and a negative association between mobile phone use at baseline and psychological well-being at follow-up.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.6.4. Mobile phone use
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Poulain et al., 2019 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the relationship between screen time and subsequent depression, although only small to very small in size, was stronger than the reverse relationship between depression and subsequent screen time;”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In the current review, we found that the nature and comprehensiveness of the analyses performed and reported varied widely between studies.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Social media appeared to be positively associated with subsequent internalising problems and psychological distress; however, the relationship between social media and psychological distress may be more pronounced among females compared to males.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.6.6. Summary
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The authors reported a positive association between computer/internet use at baseline and internalising symptoms at follow-up, and a negative association between computer/internet use at baseline and psychological well-being at follow-up.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.6.3. Computer/internet
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Poulain et al., 2019 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Fourth, the majority of studies examined the longitudinal relationship between screen time and depressive symptoms; there were relatively few studies examining the relationship between screen time and anxiety, self-esteem, and other internalising symptoms.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“For instance, some studies only included passive or sedentary screen use in their definition of screen time (e.g., Houghton et al., 2018), while others included both active and passive screen use.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Houghton et al., 2018 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All retained full-text articles were assessed by ST and AWS for inclusion (κ = 0.82).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 2.4. Study selection
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As a consequence of the diversity of types of outcomes and models, we judged that quantitative synthesis of studies was impractical and potentially misleading.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, adjustment by variables that play other causal roles, either as mediators, moderators or outcomes can have uncertain effects, and may obscure effects or result in overestimation.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“An increase in the prevalence of mental health problems and suicide among young people has also been reported in other countries (Padmanathan, Bould, Winstone, Moran, & Gunnell, 2020;Pitchforth et al., 2018;Thorisdottir, Asgeirsdottir, Sigurvinsdottir, Allegrante, & Sigfusdottir, 2017;Wiens et al., 2020).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Positive associations between screen time and mental health problems, including depressive symptoms and suicidality, having been reported (Twenge et al., 2018).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Twenge et al., 2018 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Agreement was high between the two authors (κ = 0.91).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 2.4. Study selection
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Assessment was conducted independently by ST and AWS and discrepancies were resolved through discussion.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 2.6. Quality assessment
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42020180145).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 2.1. Protocol and registration
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“For instance, a recent study conducted in the United States found that screen time accounted for only 0.4% of variation in mental wellbeing in an adolescent population (Orben & Przybylski, 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Orben & Przybylski, 2019 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Comprehensive inclusion of confoundersvariables that drive both mental health and screen timecan lead to less biased estimates of the causal effect of screen time on mental health and vice versa.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Omission of paths reflecting previous mental health and screen time status or modelling change in status using growth curves or changes scores (paths c and d respectively) can inflate estimates while their inclusion can improve precision and reduce bias.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“A systematic review of 13 published reviews concluded that there is moderately strong evidence for a positive association between screen time and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, but not behavior problems, anxiety, hyperactivity and inattention, self-esteem, well-being, and psychosocial health (Stiglic & Viner, 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Stiglic & Viner, 2019 source
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Between 2010 and 2015, a 33% increase in the number of adolescents exhibiting high levels of depressive symptoms, and a 31% increase in adolescent suicide deaths was observed in the United States (Twenge, Cooper, Joiner, Duffy, & Binau, 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Twenge et al., 2019
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman, & Group, 2009) for reporting this systematic review.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 2.1. Protocol and registration
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Moher et al., 2009 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Longitudinal studies provide more robust data because they can examine correlations over time and provide insight into the direction of observed effects.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Conversely, omission of confounding variables can result in overestimation of effects.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 1. Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All, or almost all, studies provided exact information on follow-up duration (100%), non-selective reporting of results (97.1%), a clear description of their statistical approach (94.3%), and point estimates and measures of variability (88.6%).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.7. Quality of studies
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Variation in the relationship between screen time and depression according to screen device type or use indicate that screen time in itself is unlikely to causally increase mental health problems; rather, it is likely that the relationship between screen time and mental health problems is dependent on screen content and activity.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The results of the current review largely align with past systematic reviews, which have concluded that there is a positive association between screen time and depressive symptoms (Hoare et al., 2016;Liu et al., 2016;Stiglic & Viner, 2019;Wang et al., 2019), and a weak association between screen time and both anxiety and self-esteem (Stiglic & Viner, 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Furthermore, the use of social media for the purpose of social comparison and feedback seeking (Nesi & Prinstein, 2015), and passive, rather than active use of social media (Frison & Eggermont, 2016;Thorisdottir, Sigurvinsdottir, Asgeirsdottir, Allegrante, & Sigfusdottir, 2019) have been shown to be associated with higher subsequent depressive symptoms among adolescents.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Past systematic reviews have concluded that social media is positively associated with depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents (Keles et al., 2020;McCrae et al., 2017).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The current review is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of research examining the bidirectional, longitudinal relationship between screen time and internalising mental health symptoms in young people.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Most studies used a validated measure of mental health symptoms in its original form (82.9%), provided exact sample size at each measurement (68.6%), and provided adequate description of the sampling and recruitment methods (62.9%).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.7. Quality of studies
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We found that the relationship between total screen time and subsequent depressive symptoms was stronger than the relationship between depressive symptoms and subsequent screen time, which provides partial support for the hypothesis that greater screen time is associated with increases in internalising mental health problems.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“These findings are consistent with the results of a recent systematic review, which concluded that screen type is a significant moderator of the relationship between screen time and internalising mental health symptoms (Zink, Belcher, et al., 2020).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Zink, Belcher, et al., 2020
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“For instance, it has been shown that social media use may be associated with higher levels of loneliness among adolescents who are already low in in-person social interaction, but not those high in in-person social interaction (Twenge, Spitzberg, & Campbell, 2019).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Twenge, Spitzberg, & Campbell, 2019
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The latter risks biasing parameter estimates and, in some analyses, may have also introduced high levels of multi-collinearity.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“However, we are unable to rule out the existence of this association, particularly given that studies utilising appropriate, sophisticated statistical methods, such as that of Houghton et al. (2018), reported bidirectional associations between screen time and depressive symptoms.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Houghton et al. (2018) source
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Other studies reported non-significant associations between total screen time and depression, implying that the effect size confidence intervals include zero.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Limitations included the use of models where the omission of certain paths may have biased estimates of effect in either direction, and overadjustment through the inclusion of covariates that are not confounders.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“First, all included studies utilised self-report or parent-reported measures of both screen time and mental health outcomes; no studies meeting the inclusion criteria utilised clinician-rated measures of mental health, and only one study utilised EMA to measure screen time (Bickham et al., 2015).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bickham et al., 2015 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“For instance, screens enable young people to connect with others and to access mental health information and support (Horgan & Sweeney, 2010).”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Horgan & Sweeney, 2010
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Second, there was variation between studies in the definition of 'screen time', and self-report measures used to assess screen time.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The funders had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > Role of funding sources
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Finally, the procedural quality of studies included in the current review varied widely, with the majority of studies not providing information about whether participants who dropped out from the study differed from those who remained in the study, and about participation rates at baseline, making it difficult to assess whether their results were subject to bias.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The current review suggests that this discourse may not accurately reflect the available scientific literature, and that the magnitude of the effects when they can be measured range from small to very small.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 4. Discussion
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Findings support prior literature showing differences in associations between social media use and mental health across men and women (Tang et al., 2021; Twenge & Farley, 2021).”
From Time Spent on Social Media and Associations with Mental Health in Young Adults: Examining TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, and Reddit (2025) · cites this paper as Tang et al., 2021
In the citing paper
“More screen time has been associated with depressive symptoms among children and adolescents in several systematic reviews [11, 12, 43–50].”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [12]
In the citing paper
“For instance, few existing studies feature longitudinal time frames and account for additional demographic factors, particularly race/ethnicity and sex [12, 75, 76].”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [12]
In the citing paper
“In a systematic review of longitudinal studies examining the relationship between screen time and internalizing mental health symptoms, Tang et al. (2021) found a small but significant correlation between screen time and subsequent depressive symptoms among adolescents aged 10 to 24 years.”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as Tang et al. (2021)
In the citing paper
“Prior studies have identified sex differences in the relationship between screen time and mental health outcomes, but this evidence remains inconsistent across studies [11, 12, 51], calling for additional longitudinal analyses to provide further insight into the moderating effect of sex.”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [12]
In the citing paper
“Longitudinal studies provide more robust data and enable the examination of correlations over time [12].”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [12]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated major: it would touch a result — a value a result rests on, reported and recomputed p-values on opposite sides of the significance level, two passages that conflict with no sign which is right, or a cited work retracted before this paper was published.
In the paper
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.6.3. Computer/internet
“The authors reported a positive association between computer/internet use at baseline and internalising symptoms at follow-up, and a negative association between computer/internet use at baseline and psychological well-being at follow-up.”
§ The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies > 3.3.8. Summary
“Since Poulain et al. (2019) found a positive association between computer/internet use and subsequent internalising symptoms, but not poor psychological wellbeing, and a positive association between mobile phone use and subsequent poor psychological wellbeing, this study was included in the ST-OIS(computer/internet) and ST-OIS(mobile phone) study counts as 0.5 studies.”
Citations
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Stein, D. J., Shoptaw, S. J., Vigo, D. V., Lund, C., Cuijpers, P., Bantjes, J., Sartorius, N., & Maj, M. (2022) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20998 · Cited by 331
The associations between screen time and mental health in adolescents: a systematic review
Santos, R. M. S., Mendes, C. G., Sen Bressani, G. Y., de Alcantara Ventura, S., de Almeida Nogueira, Y. J., de Miranda, D. M., & Romano-Silva, M. A. (2023) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-023-01166-7 · Cited by 311
“It was also observed in the literature that, over time, the relationship between screen time and depressive symptoms varied between different screen uses, with stronger relationships observed with cell phones and computer/internet, new forms of technology [11].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialTrott, M., Driscoll, R., Iraldo, E., & Pardhan, S. (2022) · eClinicalMedicine · doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101452 · Cited by 266
“131 In adults, most studies reported significant (direct whilst indirect were not significant) associations between several types of screen time (including overall screen time) and loneliness, however in one study this was only found in people without concurrent depression.”
Keyes, K. M., & Platt, J. M. (2024) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13864 · Cited by 253
Yang, Y., Shields, G. S., Zhang, Y., Wu, H., Chen, H., & Romer, A. L. (2022) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102194 · Cited by 201
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“Indeed, a recent systematic review on longitudinal studies in this field reported the relation between screen time and subsequent depression was stronger than the reverse, i.e., depression and subsequent screen time [64].”
BackgroundThe Lancet Commission on self-harm
Moran, P., Chandler, A., Dudgeon, P., Kirtley, O. J., Knipe, D. W., Pirkis, J., Sinyor, M., Allister, R., Ansloos, J. P., Ball, M. A., et al. (2024) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(24)01121-8 · Cited by 143
Self-citationNagata, J. M., Al-Shoaibi, A. A. A., Leong, A. W., Zamora, G., Testa, A., Ganson, K. T., & Baker, F. C. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20102-x · Cited by 103
“Longitudinal studies provide more robust data and enable the examination of correlations over time [12].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialZhang, Y., Tian, S., Zou, D., Zhang, H., & Pan, C. (2022) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-13155-3 · Cited by 71
Wong, S. S., Wong, C. C., Ng, K. W., Bostanudin, M. F., & Tan, S. F. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0280680 · Cited by 99
“Although a systematic review concluded that screen time’s impact on mental health is small and negligible [16], Twenge and Campbell (2018) had suggested that younger adults with screen time usage of 4 hours or more were associated with lower psychological well-being and for those with 7 hours and above are 2 times mor…”
BackgroundSewall, C. J. R., Goldstein, T. R., Wright, A. G. C., & Rosen, D. (2022) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/21677026221078309 · Cited by 64
“use relate to different aspects of well-being (Dickson et al., 2019; Griffioen et al., 2020; Orben, 2020; Schemer et al., 2021; Tang et al., 2021).”
BackgroundMethodBoer, M., Stevens, G. W. J. M., Finkenauer, C., & van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M. (2022) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.107084 · Cited by 65
Generalization and Personalization of Mobile Sensing-Based Mood Inference Models
Meegahapola, L., Droz, W., Kun, P., de Götzen, A., Nutakki, C., Diwakar, S., Correa, S. R., Song, D., Xu, H., Bidoglia, M., et al. (2022) · Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive Mobile Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies · doi:10.1145/3569483 · Cited by 67
“We believe capturing these information could have value when studying attributes regarding mental well-being specially since screen on time has been associated to mental well-being in a lot of prior studies [104].”
ResultMougharbel, F., Chaput, J., Sampasa‐Kanyinga, H., Colman, I., Leatherdale, S. T., Patte, K. A., & Goldfield, G. S. (2023) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1101594 · Cited by 63
“Other results indicated that video gaming and television viewing have stronger associations with depression and anxiety when compared to internet surfing and mobile phone use (12).”
ResultInfluentialHitcham, L., Jackson, H., & James, R. J. E. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107822 · Cited by 55
Smartphone screen time reduction improves mental health: a randomized controlled trial
Pieh, C., Humer, E. C., Hoenigl, A., Schwab, J., Mayerhofer, D., Dale, R., & Haider, K. (2025) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-025-03944-z · Cited by 70
“A systematic review found an association between screen time in general and depressive symptoms [17].”
Woodward, M. J., McGettrick, C. R., Dick, O. G., Ali, M., & Teeters, J. B. (2025) · Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science · doi:10.1007/s41347-024-00474-y · Cited by 49
“One factor that may account for this mixed pattern of results is that most studies to date in this literature have either focused on social media use broadly or examined only a singular social media platform (e.g., Ivie et al., 2020; Lup et al., 2015; Mackson et al., 2019; Tang et al., 2021).”
InfluentialWei, X., Ren, L., Jiang, H., Liu, C., Wang, H., Geng, J., Gao, T., Wang, J., & Lei, L. (2022) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107602 · Cited by 46
Bradley, A. H. M., & Howard, A. L. (2023) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/21677026221116889 · Cited by 49
“The most comprehensive evidence to date indicates that screen time is associated, on average, with lower well-being in young people but that the effect size is too small to be practically meaningful (Hoare et al., 2016; Orben, 2020; Tang et al., 2021).”
Applications of Large Language Models in the Field of Suicide Prevention: Scoping Review
Holmes, G., Tang, B., Gupta, S., Venkatesh, S., Christensen, H. M., & Whitton, A. E. (2024) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/63126 · Cited by 62
“The data extraction template was piloted with 9% (4/43) of the included studies by 2 authors (GH and BT) in line with prior research [41,42], resulting in >90% agreement.”
Self-citationOnyeaka, H., Firth, J., Kessler, R. C., Lovell, K., & Torous, J. B. (2021) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114120 · Cited by 40
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Increased Screen Time for Children and Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Toombs, E., Mushquash, C. J., Mah, L., Short, K., Young, N. L., Cheng, C., Zhu, L., Strudwick, G., Birken, C. S., Hopkins, J. P., et al. (2022) · doi:10.47326/ocsat.2022.03.59.1.0 · Cited by 41
Zhu, X., GRIFFITHS, H. M., Xiao, Z., Ribeaud, D., Eisner, M., Yang, Y., & Murray, A. L. (2023) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-023-01782-x · Cited by 48
“Previous studies have suggested sex/gender differences in the association between screen time and mental health and behavioral issues (e.g., Tang et al., 2021), the results including sex as a covariate were also reported when estimating the associations between age 20 outcomes and screen time…”
BackgroundTomczyk, Ł., & Selmanagić-Lizde, E. (2023) · Telematics and Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.tele.2023.101994 · Cited by 53
Leisure Time Use and Adolescent Mental Well-Being: Insights from the COVID-19 Czech Spring Lockdown
Cosma, A. P., Pavelka, J., & Baďura, P. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph182312812 · Cited by 40
“Recent review evidence points to the fact that total screen time has small to very small effects on subsequent depressive symptoms [19].”
BackgroundSaunders, T. J., McIsaac, T., Campbell, J., Douillette, K., Janssen, I., Tomasone, J. R., Ross‐White, A., Prince, S. A., & Chaput, J. (2022) · Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada · doi:10.24095/hpcdp.42.4.03 · Cited by 45
Mohd Saat, N. Z., Hanawi, S. A., Hanafiah, H., Ahmad, M., Farah, N. M. F., & Abdul Rahman, N. A. A. (2024) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1459952 · Cited by 34
“Engaging with stimulating digital content further raises cognitive arousal, complicating relaxation before bedtime, and ultimately worsening sleep quality (54, 55).”
Risk Factors for Problematic Social Media Use in Youth: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies
Pazdur, M., Tutus, D., & Haag, A. (2025) · Adolescent Research Review · doi:10.1007/s40894-025-00264-4 · Cited by 63
“This, in turn, can have a negative impact on both physical and psychological quality of life (Tang et al., 2021).”
Is adolescent internet use a risk factor for the development of depression symptoms or vice-versa?
Fitzpatrick, C., Lemieux, A., Smith, J., West, G. L., Bohbot, V. D., & Asbridge, M. (2023) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291723000284 · Cited by 34
Paquin, V., Philippe, F. L., Shannon, H., Guimond, S., Ouellet‐Morin, I., & Geoffroy, M. (2023) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-023-02537-6 · Cited by 26
“In addition, most studies have focused on general well-being or depression as outcomes [14, 18], while little is known about the association with psychotic experiences.”
Suicidal attempt and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years
Jerónimo, M. A., Piñar, S., Samos, P., González, A. M., Bellsolà, M., Sabaté, A., Caballero, J. L., Aliart, X., Martín‐Lopez, L. M., Aceña, R. M., et al. (2021) · Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental · doi:10.1016/j.rpsm.2021.11.004 · Cited by 49
Resilience to suicidal behavior in young adults: a cross-sectional study
Han, J., Wong, I., Christensen, H. M., & Batterham, P. J. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-15468-0 · Cited by 35
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An attention economic perspective on the future of the information age
Vettehen, P. H., & Schaap, G. (2023) · Futures · doi:10.1016/j.futures.2023.103243 · Cited by 26
Screen time and addictive use of gaming and social media in relation to health outcomes
Burén, J., Nutley, S. B., & Thorell, L. B. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1258784 · Cited by 40
The COVID-19 pandemic: Electronic media use and health among US College students
Wright, R. R., Larson, J., Richards, S., Larson, S., & Nienstedt, C. (2023) · Journal of American College Health · doi:10.1080/07448481.2022.2155463 · Cited by 32
Children at Risk of Specific Learning Disorder: A Study on Prevalence and Risk Factors
Bozatlı, L., Aykutlu, H. C., Giray, A. S., Ataş, T., Özkan, Ç., Yıldırım, B. G., & Görker, I. (2024) · Children · doi:10.3390/children11070759 · Cited by 34
“Therefore, more longitudinal studies examining screen content and the motivations for screen use are warranted to elucidate the relationship between screen time and mental health symptoms [44].”
BackgroundEeftens, M., Pujol, S., Klaiber, A., Chopard, G., Riss, A., Smayra, F., Flückiger, B., Gehin, T., Diallo, K., Wiart, J., et al. (2023) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.116011 · Cited by 20
Digital Media Use and Child Health and Development
Teague, S. J., Somoray, K., Shatte, A. B. R., Miller, D., Moss, K., Crawford, A., Wildman, H., Kayal, D., & Hutchinson, D. C. S. (2026) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.0085 · Cited by 47
Chen, Z., Liao, X., Yang, J., Tian, Y., Peng, K., Liu, X., & Li, Y. (2024) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115991 · Cited by 26
“Only one systematic review included longitudinal studies but it examined the associations between screen time and depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and other internalizing mental health problems, rather than self-harm and suicidal behavior (Tang et al., 2021).”
BackgroundNilsen, S. A., Stormark, K. M., Heradstveit, O., & Breivik, K. (2023) · SSM - Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101394 · Cited by 19
“For example, recent work has highlighted that passive and active digital media use may have unique associations with adolescents’ well-being (Tang et al., 2021).”
BackgroundKing, N., Pickett, W., Keown‐Stoneman, C. D. G., Miller, C. B., Li, M., & Duffy, A. C. (2023) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2023.597 · Cited by 26
“38,39 Strengths and limitations of this study warrant comment.”
BackgroundFortunato, L., Lo Coco, G., Teti, A., Bonfanti, R. C., & Salerno, L. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20156439 · Cited by 20
“Further research is needed to explore what social networking apps might trigger problematic smartphone use among adolescents and which psychological profile may be most at risk [21,77].”
BackgroundMethodBalanzá‐Martínez, V., & Cervera-Martínez, J. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19095094 · Cited by 23
“A recent systematic review of longitudinal studies found small to very small but significant associations between total ST and subsequent depressive symptoms, but not anxiety, in young people [75].”
BackgroundLiu, Y., Zhang, E., Li, H., Ge, X., Hu, F., Cai, Y., & Xiang, M. (2024) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health · doi:10.1186/s13034-024-00705-3 · Cited by 28
“To facilitate the timely recognition and intervention of depression in children and adolescents, research has been conducted on the potential benefits of modifiable lifestyle behaviors, such as physical activity and screen time [5–7].”
BackgroundAdolescent sleep, distress, and technology use: weekday versus weekend
Reardon, A., Lushington, K., & Agostini, A. (2022) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/camh.12616 · Cited by 20
Parental mediation and the use of social networks: A systematic review
Sevilla-Fernández, D., Díaz‐López, A., Caba‐Machado, V., Machimbarrena, J. M., Ortega-Barón, J., & González‐Cabrera, J. M. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0312011 · Cited by 32
Yue, L., Cui, N., Li, J., & Cui, N. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.049 · Cited by 18
Al-shoaibi, A. A. A., Shao, I. Y., Ganson, K., Lavender, J. M., Testa, A. M., Kiss, O., He, J.-B., Glidden, D. V., Baker, F. C., & Nagata, J. M. (2024) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.24169 · Cited by 18
Frielingsdorf, H., Fomichov, V., Rystedt, I., Lindstrand, S., Korhonen, L., & Henriksson, H. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-83951-x · Cited by 28
“To date, an increasing number of studies have pointed out the necessity of a deeper understanding of how the type and content of digital media usage might affect adolescent health 11,25,26 .”
InfluentialSocial Media and Subjective Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Personality Traits
Alphenaar, L. E. V., Shiner, R. L., Arana, C. C., & Prinzie, P. (2025) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-025-00898-0 · Cited by 18
“Research on social media use and its effects on subjective well-being has expanded rapidly (Tang et al., 2021 ; Valkenburg et al., 2021 ; Vuorre & Przybylski, 2023 ), yet findings remain inconsistent (Webster et al., 2021 ).”
Marsh, S., Chu, J. T. W., & Calder, A. J. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-17690-z · Cited by 17
Tibbs, M., Deschênes, S., van der Velden, P., & Fitzgerald, A. (2025) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-024-02093-5 · Cited by 16
“However, many longitudinal that have investigated this relationship have focused predominantly on overall social media use (Coyne et al., 2020; Kelly et al., 2018; Li et al., 2018; Tang et al., 2021; Tian et al., 2017).”
Cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations of screen time with adolescent depression and anxiety
Li, S., Batterham, P. J., Whitton, A. E., Maston, K., Khan, A., Christensen, H. M., & Werner‐Seidler, A. (2025) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12547 · Cited by 30
“In a review of longitudinal studies, Tang et al. (2021) found a small positive relationship between overall screen time and later depression and little evidence to support associations between screen time and later anxiety or other internalizing symptoms.”
Self-citationMaurya, C., Dhillon, P., Sharma, H., & Kumar, P. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-023-17276-1 · Cited by 16
“Some studies show the bi-directional relationship between social media use and psychological wellbeing [32, 33].”
BackgroundHökby, S., Westerlund, J., Alvarsson, J., Carli, V., & Hadlaczky, G. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20043771 · Cited by 16
“Such designs only generate limited evidence because there could be reversed causality that accounts for such associations; thus, longitudinal studies have become more pertinent in this field [21].”
BackgroundInfluentialDescarpentry, A., Melchior, M., Galéra, C., Hazo, J., Falissard, B., Warszawski, J., Davisse‐Paturet, C., Rouquette, A., The EpiCoV Study Group, Warszawski, J., et al. (2023) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-023-02241-5 · Cited by 20
“Regarding internalizing problems, whether before or during the pandemic, results concerning the association with screen time are inconsistent [34].”
Associations between problem technology use, life stress, and self-esteem among high school students
Idrees, B., Sampasa‐Kanyinga, H., Hamilton, H. A., & Chaput, J. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-17963-7 · Cited by 16
“A systematic review of 33 longitudinal studies by Tang et al. (2021) also found limited evidence for a relationship between screen time and poor mental health outcomes [38].”
BackgroundResultSonuga-Barke, E., Stoilova, M., Kostyrka-Allchorne, K., Bourgaize, J., Murray, A., Tan, M., Hollis, C., Townsend, E., & Livingstone, S. (2024) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101411 · Cited by 15
“This leads to an inability to distinguish high-/low-risk digital activities from neutral or protective activities [18].”
Chen, M., Padmapriya, N., Chua, X. H., Escobosa, L. L. T., Tay, A. E., Tai, B. C., Petrunoff, N., & Müller‐Riemenschneider, F. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-19608-1 · Cited by 18
“Previous research on the relationship between SV and mental health has yielded inconsistent findings [20, 23, 52].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialDavis, K. S., Anderson, M., Yang, C., Choukas‐Bradley, S., Bell, B. T., & Slovák, P. (2024) · Journal of Adolescent Research · doi:10.1177/07435584241291163 · Cited by 17
“Although research participants agreed that it is time to move beyond cross-sectional studies that use screen time as a dominant measure, they also observed that such research designs are still abundant in their respective fields (see Tang et al., 2021).”
Internal and external factors influencing Gen Z wellbeing
Dwidienawati, D., Pradipto, Y. D., Indrawati, L., & Gandasari, D. (2025) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-025-22124-5 · Cited by 50
“This is further supported by research conducted by [89], involving 12,866 respondents from the healthcare industry, which reported that screen time was negatively related to wellbeing [89].”
InfluentialLoneliness and screen time usage over a year
MacDonald, K. B., Patte, K. A., Leatherdale, S. T., & Schermer, J. A. (2022) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.12024 · Cited by 16
Engberg, E., Hietajärvi, L., Maksniemi, E., Lahti, J. M. T., Lonka, K., Salmela‐Aro, K., & Viljakainen, H. T. (2022) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2022.100448 · Cited by 17
Smout, A., Chapman, C., Mather, M., Slade, T. N., Teesson, M., & Newton, N. C. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18147599 · Cited by 13
Screen-based behaviour in children is more than meets the eye
Munsamy, A. J., Chetty, V., & Ramlall, S. (2022) · South African Family Practice · doi:10.4102/safp.v64i1.5374 · Cited by 15
Emerging adults’ digital technology engagement and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
Chase, G. E., Brown, M. T., & Jensen, M. R. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023514 · Cited by 14
“, 2020), including meta-analyses and reviews (Appel et al., 2020; Odgers and Jensen, 2020; Tang et al., 2021) conclude that digital technology engagement has small, negligible, or mixed effects on youth mental health.”
BackgroundBao, R., Yang, Z., Memon, A. R., Chen, S., Wang, L., & Cai, Y. (2023) · Child Care Health and Development · doi:10.1111/cch.13191 · Cited by 12
López‐Gil, J. F., Firth, J., & García‐Hermoso, A. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.019 · Cited by 12
Handheld Devices: The Barrier for Parents with Mental Health Difficulties in Child Outcomes
Bui, N. H., Cruickshank, M., McAloon, J., & Maguire, J. M. (2021) · Journal of Child and Family Studies · doi:10.1007/s10826-021-02126-8 · Cited by 10
“One study suggested that depressed parents may feel more fatigued, and thus engage in more screen time (Tang et al., 2021).”
BackgroundIwatate, E., Atem, F., Jones, E. C., Hughes, J. L., Yokoo, T., & Messiah, S. E. (2023) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-023-02191-y · Cited by 11
“These risk behaviors are associated with obesity [30], as well as body shaming/stigma [31, 32] and cyberbullying [33], anxiety and depression [34, 35] and eating disorders [36], potentially strengthening the obesity–suicide association.”
He, X., Hu, J., Yin, M., Zhang, W., & Qiu, B. (2023) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci13101452 · Cited by 10
“A systematic review of thirty-five longitudinal studies suggested that the impact of screen media use on mental health problems was negligible or small [10].”
BackgroundSocial media: the root cause of rising youth self‐harm or a convenient scapegoat?
Christensen, H. M., Slade, A., & Whitton, A. E. (2024) · The Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/mja2.52503 · Cited by 10
Self-citationProspective Association of Sedentary Behavior With Psychological Distress Among Adolescents
Werneck, A. O., Hallgren, M. Å., & Stubbs, B. (2024) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.10.019 · Cited by 15
Dorrestein, M., Nutley, S. B., & Thorell, L. B. (2025) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-025-01491-5 · Cited by 18
“…of social media to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress (e.g., Boer et al., 2020; Fassi et al., 2024; Santos et al., 2023; Shannon et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2021) as well as to distorted body image and eating disorders (e.g., Chu et al., 2024; Vandenbosch et al., 2022).”
Brandau, M., Vogt, M. A., & Garey, M. L. (2022) · International Education Studies · doi:10.5539/ies.v15n3p14 · Cited by 12
The Rise of Social Media and the Fall in Mental Well‐Being Among Young Australians
Leigh, A., & Robson, S. (2025) · Australian Economic Review · doi:10.1111/1467-8462.12584 · Cited by 9
Beyond screen time: The core influences of problematic screen use on adolescent development networks
Xu, L., Song, K., Deng, H.-Y., Geng, X., Zhang, J., Fang, X., Potenza, M. N., & Zhang, J. (2025) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/2006.2025.00035 · Cited by 16
Tadpatrikar, A., Sharma, M. K., & Murthy, P. (2024) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104154 · Cited by 12
He, J., Fu, Y., Cui, S., Barnhart, W. R., Zhang, X., Han, J., Wang, Y., Ganson, K. T., & Nagata, J. M. (2023) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.24026 · Cited by 10
Jörren, H. L., Schmidt, H., Kaman, A., Ravens‐Sieberer, U., Rumpf, H., & Pawils, S. (2023) · Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz · doi:10.1007/s00103-023-03727-y · Cited by 7
“Beides kann sich jedochaufdenZusammenhangzwischen MN und PA auswirken [42, 44] und sollte in folgendenStudienBerücksichtigung finden.”
BackgroundYıldırım, M., Geçer, E., & Bağcı, H. (2024) · Discover Psychology · doi:10.1007/s44202-024-00180-z · Cited by 11
“Tang et al. [39] noted changes in family dynamics due to prolonged screen time, while some individuals now prefer online communities over face-to-face interactions, impacting their psychological adjustment [40].”
Screen time trajectories and psychosocial well-being among Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal study
Wang, W., Jiang, W., Zhu, L., Lu, C., Li, Y., Lai, W., & Guo, L. (2024) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-024-06329-3 · Cited by 8
“However, the review also pointed out that the associations were inconsistent, with findings ranging from positive to nonsignificant and some effects varying substantially by sex or other factors [23].”
Gillespie, K. M., Branjerdporn, G., Woerwag‐Mehta, S., Glegg, J., Porter, M., & Bartlett, S. E. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0314621 · Cited by 8
Association between screen time and depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents
Xu, J., Duan, H., Qin, K., & Liu, B. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1428885 · Cited by 13
Liu, Y., Sun, Y., Zheng, K., Zheng, J., Kong, L., Gu, J., & Huang, T. (2023) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2022.0373 · Cited by 8
Addictive Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents
Leo, K., Arnold, J., Kewitz, S., & Lindenberg, K. (2023) · Kindheit und Entwicklung · doi:10.1026/0942-5403/a000427 · Cited by 11
Gurtner, M., Smith, M., Gage, R., Howey-Brown, A., Wang, X., Latavao, T., Deng, J. D., Zwanenburg, S. P., Stanley, J., & Signal, L. N. (2022) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/39017 · Cited by 8
“There is unequivocal evidence linking children’s high screen-time with adiposity, depressive symptoms, and an unhealthy diet [4-6], alongside emerging literature about a range of other harms from internet-based interaction, such as exposure to marketing for unhealthy products; bullying; racist,…”
Lu, H., Liang, G., Li, D., Liu, M.-X., Yin, Z.-J., Li, Y.-Z., Zhang, T., & Pan, C.-W. (2023) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2023.2217380 · Cited by 8
“Several studies suggested that prolonged screen time and frequent screen-based activity contributed to mental health problems, while others reported near negligible (Tang et al., 2021) or beneficial effects (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017) of screen time on mental health.”
BackgroundTiraboschi, G. A., Garon‐Carrier, G., Smith, J., & Fitzpatrick, C. (2023) · Preventive Medicine Reports · doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102471 · Cited by 15
“Indeed, there is evidence that internet use in particular is related to internalizing symptoms (Tang et al., 2021; Twenge & Martin, 2020).”
BackgroundVisier‐Alfonso, M. E., López‐Gil, J. F., Mesas, A. E., Jiménez‐López, E., Cekrezi, S., & Martínez‐Vizcaíno, V. (2024) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2024.0064 · Cited by 9
“1,2,11,12 Signi fi cant social, emotional, and cognitive changes occur during adolescence, making it a vulnerable time for the negative effects of SNs. 2 A previous study reported that spending more time on social media each day increased the risk of depression by 59.6%, and that the risk of…”
InfluentialEl impacto del uso prolongado de pantallas en el desarrollo cognitivo de los estudiantes
Tulcanaza, P. E. E., Guarnizo, T. C., Nieves, J. M. N., Taco, B. N. I., Veas, L. J. V., & Chicaiza, D. C. F. (2024) · South Florida Journal of Development · doi:10.46932/sfjdv5n12-086 · Cited by 7
Dong, N., Zhou, Y., Lei, L.-J., Lee, T. M. C., & Lam, C. L. M. (2025) · International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.ijchp.2025.100589 · Cited by 9
“However, recent systematic reviews highlight substantial inconsistencies and methodological variability across longitudinal studies, indicating that the long-term relationships between screen time and internalizing symptoms remain unclear or weaker than previously assumed (Tang et al., 2021).”
Salerno, L., Fortunato, L., Ostwald, V., Muscolino, A., & Coco, G. L. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0323320 · Cited by 10
“Overall, the most recent reviews of studies examining the association between screen time and mental health symptoms in young people highlighted a small to very small association between screen time and depression, and a weak association between screen time and both anxiety and self-esteem [5,21].”
Clayborne, Z. M., Capaldi, C. A., & Mehra, V. M. (2025) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-025-22874-2 · Cited by 7
Pentingnya Kewaspadaan Berinternet untuk Kesehatan Mental Anak dan Remaja
Universitas Udayana, B., & Yuliana, Y. (2022) · Jurnal Ilmu Medis Indonesia · doi:10.35912/jimi.v2i1.1218 · Cited by 7
Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention in Print Text vs. Digital Media Environments
Pikhart, M., Klimova, B., & Ruschel, F. B. (2023) · Syst. · doi:10.3390/systems11010030 · Cited by 6
Hilton, M. (2023) · Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · doi:10.1177/21695067231199684 · Cited by 6
“The nature of screen time research is complex and inconclusive (Tang et al., 2021).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Tang, S., Werner-Seidler, A., Torok, M., Mackinnon, A. J., & Christensen, H.
- Affiliations
- Black Dog Institute (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Tang, Samantha
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-06
- Volume
- 86
- Pages
- 102021
- ISSN
- 0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3139313496
- Semantic Scholar
- 41461378d925fa5da2fa10bd533ff63fd987c6ce
- Cited by
- 284
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 74 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 8
- FWCI
- 6.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- screen time, mental health, youth, depressive symptoms, internalizing problems, anxiety, self-esteem, longitudinal associations, device utilization, screen content
- MeSH terms
- Screen Time, Adolescent, Anxiety, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Mental Health
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