Is screen time the enemy?

Is screen time the enemy?

Is Screen Time the enemy? New research shows that it’s a little bit more complicated.

A new paper that’s come out this year (Santos et al, 2025) explains that while screen time is in part related to reduced wellbeing in children and adolescents in a number of areas, when you look at how children are using screens and whether it’s affecting their sleep we get a better picture of which habits and behaviours we need to be addressing.

Using screens for communication doesn’t seem to impact wellbeing in the same way as using it for entertainment and video gaming, and when we consider whether that behaviour is affecting sleep,we get a much clearer picture.

They also found impacts of white matter which our connections in the brain which they need to unpack as well.

So screen time isn’t necessarily the enemy as long as it’s being used in a healthy way and it’s not impacting sleep and other behaviours.

📖Santos, J.P.L., Soehner, A.M., Biernesser, C.L., Ladouceur, C.D., & Versace, A. (2025) Role of Sleep and White Matter in the Link Between Screen Time and Depression in Childhood and Early Adolescence. JAMA Pediatr. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.1718

Follow me on:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dremmaclaire?_t=ZN-8zO1BWbB0ac&_r=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_emmaclaire?igsh=NWVyd2J1eWl5cGg2&utm_source=qr
More links: https://linktr.ee/emmapalmercooper

#psychology #psychologist #wellbeing #childwellbeing #screentime #sleep #psychologystudent