Culture Post: Screen Use In 9- And 10-Year-Olds Elevates Risk Of Depression, Anxiety

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalDaily.

It’s time to take a closer look at children’s screen time habits. With new research emerging daily on the mental health impacts of excessive screen use, a recent study suggests alarming findings: children aged 9 and 10 face increased risks of depression and anxiety with screen use.

In a long-term study conducted by UC San Francisco, researchers followed up with 9,538 participants for around two years to understand the mental health impact of screen use. The participants were 9 or 10 years old at the beginning of the study. Using mixed-effects models, the researchers analyzed associations between baseline self-reported screen use and parent-reported mental health symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist.

The study found that higher total screen time was associated with an increase in various mental health symptoms. Specifically, each additional hour of screen time correlated with a 10% increase in depressive symptoms, a 7% increase in conduct symptoms, and a 6% increase in somatic symptoms. Also, with each additional hour of screen time, there was a 6% increase risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms.

The researchers noted that although the effects were small, the impact was consistent. They also observed that among screen activities, video chat, texting, watching videos, and video games were the types of use that had the greatest associations with depressive symptoms.

“Screen use may replace time spent engaging in physical activity, sleep, socializing in-person and other behaviors that reduce depression and anxiety,” explained the lead author Dr. Jason Nagata in a news release.

Source: MedicalDaily
https://www.medicaldaily.com/screen-use-9-10-year-olds-elevates-risk-depression-anxiety-study-says-472514

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