A major international study looking at nearly 300,000 children has revealed a two-way link between the amount of time kids spend on screens and their emotional and social well-being.
Children who spent more time using devices like TVs, tablets, computers, and gaming consoles were at a higher risk of developing problems like aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem later in life, the study found.
“The most games that were included were console games, computer games and mobile games.”
When asked if violent games, such games that involved shooting, led to more behavioral issues, Noetel said that was not necessarily the case.
When children engage in moderate amounts of screen time, especially for educational purposes, there is a lower risk for social or emotional problems in the future.
A significant global study that examined almost 300,000 kids found a reciprocal relationship between children’s screen time and their social and emotional health.
The study found that children who used electronics like TVs, tablets, computers, and game consoles more frequently were more likely to experience issues like anxiety, aggression, and low self-esteem in the future.
The relationship is inverse as well: kids who were already having emotional or social difficulties tended to use screens of all kinds more frequently.
Published Monday in the scholarly journal Psychological Bulletin, the study found that gaming console time was specifically associated with an increased risk of problems.
ABC News was informed by Dr. Michael Noetel, one of the study’s authors and an associate professor of psychology at The University of Queensland, Australia, that “it’s safe to make some assumptions rather than breaking it down by the exact game people were playing.”. “Console, computer, and mobile games made up the majority of the games that were included. “..”.
Noetel responded that it wasn’t always the case when asked if playing violent video games—like those that featured shooting—caused more behavioral problems.
According to him, “some studies broke down the games by whether they were violent, but our interpretation was that most parents knew to limit the amount of violent content to give kids under 10.”. Instead, [the] main discovery was that, compared to other screen activities like watching TV or using educational apps, gaming in general—regardless of the kind—showed significantly stronger associations with emotional issues. “.
With an analysis of 117 long-term studies carried out between 1972 and 2024, the study is among the biggest of its kind. By concentrating on kids under the age of ten and following them over time, the researchers were better able to identify cause and effect.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises kids ages 2 to 5 to spend no more than an hour on recreational screens during the week and three hours on the weekends. The study found that children who went beyond the recommended screen time guidelines were more likely to experience socioemotional problems than those who stayed within the guidelines.
“More than 40 percent of kids [ages] 8 to 12 are using screens for more than four hours per day,” ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula stated on Tuesday’s “Good Morning America” in reference to the study’s results. You can see why we need to understand the effects of screens on our children when you combine that with the fact that mental health disorders in children are becoming more common, and half of these disorders begin before the age of 14. “,”.
What is the most important lesson for parents, then?
The authors of the study stated that the goal is not to completely ban screens.
Children who use screens in moderation, particularly for educational purposes, are less likely to experience social or emotional issues later in life.
In order to build emotional intelligence and resilience, kids should be encouraged to engage with friends and family rather than relying solely on screens to control their emotions. The most crucial thing is to make sure that screen time doesn’t conflict with necessities like getting a good night’s sleep and engaging in regular exercise, the study continued.
“We’ve all been guilty of it, but it’s okay to say no and to set limits and boundaries, and do it in a noncontrolling way as a parent, if you can,” the study’s unaffiliated Narula stated.
Doctor. Brendan Huang is a member of the ABC News Medical Unit in addition to being the chief resident physician in adult neurology at Northwell Health.
