Parents, policymakers, and health professionals often assume that screen time is harmful to children and adolescents. But are their concerns rooted in solid evidence? A team of researchers led by Professor Andrew Przybylski from the Oxford Internet Institute set out to investigate.
Our findings should help guide the heated debates about technology away from hyperbole and towards high-quality science
Professor Andrew Przybylski
Professor of Human Behaviour and Technology
Through rigorous, peer-reviewed research, Professor Przybylski and his team demonstrated that much of the concern about screen time lacks an evidence base. They showed that the belief that “more screen time is bad” oversimplifies how young people engage with digital technology.
Their research revealed that moderate screen use is not inherently harmful. Instead, its impact depends on broader lifestyle factors, including sleep, exercise, and daily routines. In fact, much of the alarm surrounding screen time comes from misinterpreted data or statistical artefacts.
The team employed a diverse range of methods, including large-scale data analysis, longitudinal panel studies, and examination of nationally representative datasets from multiple countries, to explore the evidence on screen time and well-being.
By analysing data from over 120,000 English adolescents, the team found that moderate technology use has negligible effects on well-being, and that a fuller understanding of the impact of technology requires an understanding of how adolescents relate to other daily pursuits.
By examining panel data from over 12,000 adolescents, the team found that social media use is not a strong predictor of life satisfaction, and that social media effects are nuanced and vary by gender.
Analysing three nationally representative datasets from Ireland, the US and the UK, Przybylski and his team found little evidence for substantial negative associations between digital screen engagement and adolescent well-being across these countries.
From an analysis of three large-scale social datasets, they found a negative but small association between digital technology use and adolescent well-being, but too small to warrant policy change.
The team’s research is transforming how we think about young people’s digital lives. Instead of seeing technology as inherently harmful, his work encourages a nuanced understanding of its role in everyday life. Their findings have informed key policy decisions and practitioner guidelines:
As policymakers, health professionals, and educators engage with these findings, the focus is shifting from fear-driven narratives to evidence-based discussions, paving the way for thoughtful, balanced approaches to how teens use technology.
This programme addresses the assumptions that the overall mental well-being of young people is undergoing a pronounced period of decline and that digital technologies might be driving this trend.
17th November 2023
In a study of nearly 12,000 children in the United States, no evidence was found to show that screen time impacted their brain function or well-being.
Virtual environments provide places for avatars to interact with each other in computer-generated spaces. This book is a survey of research in this area, offering a framework for understanding this technology and its future implications.
