Not all screen time is created equal: associations with mental health vary by activity and gender

Purpose Previous research on associations between screen media use and mental health produced mixed findings, possibly because studies have not examined screen activities separately or accounted for gender differences. We sought to examine associations between different types of screen activities (social media, internet, gaming, and TV) and mental health indicators separately for boys and girls. Methods We drew from a nationally representative sample of 13–15-year-old adolescents in the UK (n = 11,427) asking about hours per day spent on specific screen media activities and four mental health indicators: self-harm behavior, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and self-esteem. Results Hours spent on social media and Internet use were more strongly associated with self-harm behaviors, depressive symptoms, low life satisfaction, and low self-esteem than hours spent on electronic gaming and TV watching. Girls generally demonstrated stronger associations between screen media time and mental health indicators than boys (e.g., heavy Internet users were 166% more likely to have clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms than low users among girls, compared to 75% more likely among boys). Conclusion Thus, not all screen time is created equal; social media and Internet use among adolescent girls are the most strongly associated with compromised mental health. Future research should examine different screen media activities and boys and girls separately where possible. Practitioners should be aware that some types of screen time are more likely to be linked to mental health issues than others.

"In a large, nationally representative sample of adolescents in the UK, associations between screen media use and mental health issues differed by type of screen media activity and by gender, with the largest associations for social media and Internet use among girls. Thus, not all screen time is created equal. Effect sizes were larger for social media and Internet use compared to gaming and TV use. These differences may be rooted in both the device used and the psychological processes involved in each screen media activity... Associations also differed by gender. Heavy screen media use was more strongly associated with mental health issues among girls compared to boys, particularly for Internet use and social media. The stronger associations for girls may help to explain why girls’ mental health has suffered more than boys’ in recent years as social media and Internet use have increased." (Twenge and Farley, 2020: 211).