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An umbrella review of the benefits and risks associated with youths’ interactions with electronic screens
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Abstract
The influence of electronic screens on the health of children and adolescents and their education is not well understood. In this prospectively registered umbrella review (PROSPERO identifier CRD42017076051 ), we harmonized effects from 102 meta-analyses (2,451 primary studies; 1,937,501 participants) of screen time and outcomes. In total, 43 effects from 32 meta-analyses met our criteria for statistical certainty. Meta-analyses of associations between screen use and outcomes showed small-to-moderate effects (range: r = -0.14 to 0.33). In education, results were mixed; for example, screen use was negatively associated with literacy (r = -0.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.20 to -0.09, P ≤ 0.001, k = 38, N = 18,318), but this effect was positive when parents watched with their children (r = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.28, P = 0.028, k = 12, N = 6,083). In health, we found evidence for several small negative associations; for example, social media was associated with depression (r = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.19, P ≤ 0.001, k = 12, N = 93,740). Limitations of our review include the limited number of studies for each outcome, medium-to-high risk of bias in 95 out of 102 included meta-analyses and high heterogeneity (17 out of 22 in education and 20 out of 21 in health with I 2 > 50%). We recommend that caregivers and policymakers carefully weigh the evidence for potential harms and benefits of specific types of screen use.
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“Overall, there is no significant influence of a smartphone ban here, which contradicts numerous studies indicating that smartphone use has a negative effect on academic performance [5,31].”
From To Ban or Not to Ban? A Rapid Review on the Impact of Smartphone Bans in Schools on Social Well-Being and Academic Performance (2024) · cites this paper as [5]
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“On the other hand, however, there are numerous indications that the use of digital media not only hinders learning processes, but can even prevent them.”
From To Ban or Not to Ban? A Rapid Review on the Impact of Smartphone Bans in Schools on Social Well-Being and Academic Performance (2024) · cites this paper as [5]
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“Meta-analytic studies are mixed.82”
From Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report (2026) · cites this paper as [82]
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“Furthermore, it remains unclear whether specific modalities of screen time (e.g., device type, digital media type, and specific websites and applications) are differentially associated with adolescent mental health outcomes, prompting a call for researchers to conduct more nuanced measurements and analyses of screen use that focus on the contents, contexts, and environments in which digital media”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [89]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sanders, T., Noetel, M., Parker, P., Del Pozo Cruz, B., Biddle, S., Ronto, R., Hulteen, R., Parker, R., Thomas, G., De Cocker, K., Salmon, J., Hesketh, K., Weeks, N., Arnott, H., Devine, E., Vasconcellos, R., Pagano, R., Sherson, J., Conigrave, J., & Lonsdale, C.
- Affiliations
- Australian Catholic University (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of Southern Queensland (AU)
- Louisiana State University (US)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Deakin University (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Sanders, Taren
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Human Behaviour
- Published
- 2023-11-13
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 82-99
- ISSN
- 2397-3374 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4388627211
- Semantic Scholar
- a46fb44c49f8afaf4de2c918df3783503d058034
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 256
- Citations by year
- 2026: 62 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 40
- FWCI
- 110.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Human Behaviour (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
- Jyväskylä University Digital Archive (University of Jyväskylä) (submittedVersion)
- Civil War Book Review (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- screen time, electronic screens, youth, children and adolescents, educational outcomes, literacy, social media, depression, parental co-viewing, health outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Humans, Parents, Bias, Risk Assessment
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