Abstract
Screen time, represented by the daily time spent using digital technology on any screen devices, has been increasing. This review sought to expand understanding of the associations between screen time and mental health in adults. The systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses - PRISMA and registered in Prospero under number CRD42022335373. Defined according to the PICO strategy (acronym for P: population/patients; I: intervention/exposure; C: comparison/control; O: outcome), a search was conducted in January 2023 with the following keywords: “screen time”, “adults” and “mental health” combined with the AND operator in PubMed, PsycInfo and Scopus databases. 1,695 articles were identified, and 90 papers were read in full, of which 32 were included in this review. There were 19 studies conducted before the COVID-19 Pandemic and 13 studies conducted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most studies found associations between excessive screen exposure and impact on aspects of mental health in adults. Before the pandemic, high screen times were associated with depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, and lower well-being. Watching TV was worse for mental health than computer or mobile device use. Replacing non-work time in a recent retirement with screen time is worse for mental health than replacing it with sleep or physical activity. Recreational screen time was associated with depression and screen time for schoolwork was not. During the pandemic, messaging app usage was associated with decreased feelings of loneliness. Screens and social media were associated risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness and Fear of Missing Out-FoMO. For in college adults, before and during the pandemic, depression and anxiety were associated with screen use, especially for leisure. In addition to the time spent on screens, the type of device with which we interact and the use of various devices simultaneously may be associated with mental health problems. Always-on mobile devices can increase interruptions to activities, weaken time management, and decrease the quality of time spent with children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information.
Abbreviations
- A-RSQ:
-
Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire for Adults
- AAP:
-
American Academy of Pediatrics
- ADHD:
-
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- ASRS:
-
Adult Self-Report Scale
- AUPWI:
-
Australian Unity Personal Well-being Index
- BAI:
-
Beck Anxiety Inventory
- BDI-II:
-
Beck Depression Inventory-II
- BSRS-5:
-
Brief Symptom Rating Scale-5
- CDA:
-
Combination of Depression and Anxiety
- CERQ-short:
-
Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Short
- CES-D:
-
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
- COVID-19:
-
Coronavirus Disease 2019
- CPSS:
-
Chinese Perceived Stress Scale
- DASS-21:
-
21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales
- FoMO:
-
Fear of Missing Out
- GAD-7:
-
General Anxiety Disorder Scale-7
- GWS:
-
General Wellbeing Schedule
- HCWs:
-
Healthcare Workers
- IAT:
-
Young’s Internet Addictions Test
- LST:
-
Leisure Screen Time
- MARCA:
-
Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults
- MBI-HSS:
-
Maslach Burnout Inventory—Health Services Survey test
- MH:
-
Mental Health
- MSQA:
-
Multidimensional Sub-health Questionnaire of Adolescents
- ORs:
-
Odds Ratio
- PA:
-
Physical Activity
- PANAS:
-
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule
- PC:
-
Personal Computer
- PCL-5:
-
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5
- PHQ-8:
-
Patient Health Questionnaire-8
- PLEs:
-
Psychotic-Like Experiences
- PMH:
-
Positive Mental Health
- PRISMA:
-
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
- PROMIS:
-
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System
- PSQI:
-
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
- PSS:
-
Perceived Stress Scale
- PSSS:
-
Perceived Social Support Scale
- PTSD:
-
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- PWB:
-
Psychological Well-Being Scale
- RCTs:
-
Randomized Clinical Trials
- RSES:
-
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
- SAS:
-
Self-Rating Anxiety Scale
- SB:
-
Sedentary Behavior
- SCS:
-
Self-Compassion Scale
- SDS:
-
Self-Rating Depression Scale
- SE:
-
Mean
- SELSA:
-
Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults
- SES:
-
Socioeconomic Status
- SME:
-
Social Media Exposure
- ST:
-
Screen Time
- STAI-S:
-
Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
- STAI-T:
-
State-Trait Anxiety Index—Trait part
- SWB:
-
Subjective Well-Being
- SWEMWBS:
-
Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale
- SWLS:
-
Satisfaction with Life Scale
- TIPI:
-
10-item Personality Inventory scale
- TV:
-
Television
- UCLA:
-
University of California, Los Angeles
- UK:
-
United Kingdom
- ULS-8:
-
Short form of the UCLA Loneliness Scale
- USA:
-
United States of America
- VDT:
-
Visual Display Terminal
- WEMWBS:
-
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale
- WHO:
-
World Health Organization
References
Adamczewska-Chmiel, K., Dudzic, K., & Chmiela, T. (2022). A Gorzkowska, smartphones, the epidemic of the 21st Century: A possible source of addictions and Neuropsychiatric Consequences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095152.
Akbari, M., Seydavi, M., Palmieri, S., Mansueto, G., Caselli, G., & Spada, M. M. (2021). Fear of missing out (FoMO) and internet use: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 10(4), 879–900. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00083. Advance online publication.
Al Shahrani, E. S., & Al Shehri, N. A. (2021). Association between smartphone use and carpal tunnel syndrome: A case-control study. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary care, 10, 2816–2821. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2458_20.
Alageel, A. A., Alyahya, R. A., Bahatheq, Y. A., Alzunaydi, N. A., Alghamdi, R. A., Alrahili, N. M., McIntyre, R. S., & Iacobucci, M. (2021). Smartphone addiction and associated factors among postgraduate students in an arabic sample: A cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry, 21, 302. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03285-0.
Alimoradi, Z., Jafari, E., Potenza, M. N., Lin, C. Y., Wu, C. Y., & Pakpour, A. H. (2022). Binge-watching and Mental Health problems: A systematic review and Meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 9707. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159707.
Aliverdi, F., Farajidana, H., Tourzani, Z. M., Salehi, L., Qorbani, M., Mohamadi, F., & Mahmoodi, Z. (2022). Social networks and internet emotional relationships on mental health and quality of life in students: Structural equation modelling. Bmc Psychiatry, 22, 451. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04097-6.
Altiner Yas, M., Isci, N., Alacam, B., Caliskan, R., & Kulekci, E. (2022). Relationship between level of internet addiction and time management skills among nursing students. Perspectives in Psychiatric care, 58(2), 758–766. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12845.
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). (2013). Council on Communications and Media, children, adolescents, and the media. Pediatrics, 132, 958–961. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-2656.
Antonucci, T. C., Ajrouch, K. J., & Manalel, J. A. (2017). Social relations and Technology: Continuity, Context, and change. Innov Aging, 1, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx09.
Baillot, A., Chaput, J. P., Prince, S. A., Romain, A. J., Colley, R. C., & Lang, J. J. (2022). Health associations with meeting the new Canadian 24-Hour Movement guidelines recommendations according to body mass index classes in Canadian adults. Health Reports, 33(11), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202201100001-eng.
Castro, D., Rigby, J. M., Cabral, D., & Nisi, V. (2021). The binge-watcher’s journey: Investigating motivations, contexts, and affective states surrounding Netflix viewing. Convergence, 27, 3–20.
Denning, M., Goh, E. T., Tan, B., Kanneganti, A., Almonte, M., Scott, A., Martin, G., & Kinross, J. (2021). Determinants of burnout and other aspects of psychological well-being in healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic: A multinational cross-sectional study. PloS One, 16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238666.
Dennis, C. L., Carsley, S., Brennenstuhl, S., Brown, H. K., Marini, F., Bell, R. C., Miller, A., & Birken, C. S. (2022). Screen use and internet addiction among parents of young children: A nationwide Canadian cross-sectional survey. PloS One, 17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257831.
Doryab, A., K Villalba, D., Chikersal, P., M Dutcher, J., Tumminia, M., Liu, X., Cohen, S., & K Dey, A. (2019). Identifying behavioral phenotypes of loneliness and social isolation with Passive sensing: Statistical analysis, Data Mining and Machine Learning of Smartphone and Fitbit Data. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7, https://doi.org/10.2196/13209.
Durden, E., Pirner, M. C., Rapoport, S. J., Williams, A., Robinson, A., & Forman-Hoffman, V. L. (2023). Changes in stress, burnout, and resilience associated with an 8-week intervention with relational agent Woebot. Internet Interventions, 33, 100637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2023.100637.
Eeftens, M., Pujol, S., Klaiber, A., Chopard, G., Riss, A., Smayra, F., Flückiger, B., Gehin, T., Diallo, K., Wiart, J., Mazloum, T., Mauny, F., & Röösli, M. (2023). The association between real-life markers of phone use and cognitive performance, health-related quality of life and sleep. Environmental Research, 231(Pt 1), 116011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.116011.
Feng, Q., Zhang, Q. L., Du, Y., Ye, Y. L., & He, Q. Q. (2014). Associations of physical activity, screen time with depression, anxiety and sleep quality among Chinese college freshmen. PloS One, 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100914.
Fleischmann, M., Xue, B., & Head, J. (2020). Mental Health before and after Retirement-assessing the relevance of Psychosocial Working conditions: The Whitehall II prospective study of British civil servants, the journals of gerontology. Series B. Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 75, 403–413. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz042.
Fumagalli, E., Dolmatzian, M. B., & Shrum, L. J. (2021). Centennials, FOMO, and loneliness: An investigation of the Impact of Social Networking and Messaging/VoIP apps usage during the initial stage of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.620739.
Fusar-Poli, P., Salazar, G. P., Micheli, A. D., Nieman, D. H., Correll, C. U., Kessing, L. V., Pfennig, A., & van Amelsvoort, T. (2020). What is good mental health? A scoping review. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 31, 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.12.105.
Gao, J., Zheng, P., Jia, Y., Chen, H., Mao, Y., Chen, S., Wang, Y., & Dai, J. (2020). Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. PloS One, 15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231924.
Gao, Y., Fu, N., Mao, Y., & Shi, L. (2021). Recreational Screen Time and anxiety among College athletes: Findings from Shanghai. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 7470. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147470.
Garriguet, D., Colley, R., & Bushnik, T. (2017). Parent-child association in physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Health Reports, 28(6), 3–11.
Ge, Y., Xin, S., Luan, D., Zou, Z., Bai, X., Liu, M., & Gao, Q. (2020). Independent and combined associations between screen time and physical activity and perceived stress among college students. Addictive Behaviors, 103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106224.
Giuntella, O., Hyde, K., Saccardo, S., & Sadoff, S. (2021). Lifestyle and mental health disruptions during COVID-19. Pnas, 118(9), e2016632118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016632118.
Gonçalves, P. J. (2016). Ciclo Vital: início, desenvolvimento e fim da vida humana possíveis contribuições para educadores. Revista Contexto & Educação, 31, 79–110. https://doi.org/10.21527/2179-1309.2016.98.79-110.
Griffioen, N., Scholten, H., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., van Rooij, M., & Granic, I. (2021). Everyone does it—differently: A window into emerging adults’ smartphone use. Humanit Soc Sci Commun, 8. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00863-1.
Ham, O. K., & Lee, B. G. (2019). Screen Time and Cardiovascular risks among Middle-aged women. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 34(6), 474–482. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0000000000000598.
Harvey, D. L., Milton, K., Jones, A. P., & Atkin, A. J. (2022). International trends in screen-based behaviours from 2012 to 2019. Preventive Medicine, 154, 106909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106909.
Higgins, J. P., Altman, D. G., Gøtzsche, P. C., Jüni, P., Moher, D., Oxman, A. D., Savović, J., & Sterne, J. A. C. (2011). The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized trials. BMJ (Clinical Research ed), 343, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d5928.
Holte, A. J., & Ferraro, F. R. (2020). Anxious, bored, and (maybe) missing out: Evaluation of anxiety attachment, boredom proneness, and fear of missing out (FoMO). Comput Human Behav, 112, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106465.
Holte, A. J., Fisher, W. N., & Ferraro, F. R. (2022). Afraid of Social Exclusion: Fear of missing out predicts Cyberball-Induced Ostracism. J Technol Behav Sci, 7, 315–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-022-00251-9.
Hossain, S., Anjum, A., Uddin, M. E., Rahman, M. A., & Hossain, M. F. (2019). Impacts of socio-cultural environment and lifestyle factors on the psychological health of university students in Bangladesh: A longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 256, 393–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.06.001.
Hu, Z., Lin, X., Kaminga, A. C., & Xu, H. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on Lifestyle behaviors and their Association with Subjective Well-being among the General Population in Mainland China: Cross-sectional study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22, https://doi.org/10.2196/21176.
Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting Social Media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37, 751–768. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751.
Ishtiaq, A., Ashraf, H., Iftikhar, S., & Baig-Ansari, N. (2021). Parental perception on screen time and psychological distress among young children. J Family Med Prim Care, 10, 765–772. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1720_20.
Jáuregui, A., Argumedo, G., Hernández-Alcaraz, C., Contreras-Manzano, A., Salinas-Rodríguez, A., & Salvo, D. (2022). Changes among Mexican adults in physical activity and screen time during the COVID-19 Lockdown period and Association with symptoms of Depression, anxiety, and stress may 29-July 31, 2020. Preventing Chronic Disease, 19, https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd18.210324.
Kaur, W., Balakrishnan, V., Chen, Y. Y., & Periasamy, J. (2022). Mental Health risk factors and coping strategies among students in Asia Pacific during COVID-19 Pandemic-A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), 8894. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19158894.
Kaviani, F., Robards, B., Young, K. L., & Koppel, S. (2020). Nomophobia: Is the fear of being without a Smartphone Associated with problematic use? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 6024. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176024.
Kemp, C., Pienaar, P. R., Rosslee, D. T., Lipinska, G., Roden, L. C., & Rae, D. E. (2021). Sleep in Habitual Adult Video gamers: A systematic review. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, 781351. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.781351.
Khalili-Mahani, N., Smyrnova, A., & Kakinami, L. (2019). To each stress its own screen: A cross-sectional survey of the patterns of stress and various screen uses in relation to self-admitted screen addiction. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(4), e11485.
Kildare, C. A., & Middlemiss, W. (2017). Impact of parents mobile device use on parent-child interaction: A literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 579–593.
Kjellenberg, K., Ekblom, O., Ahlen, J., Helgadóttir, B., & Nyberg, G. (2022). Cross-sectional associations between physical activity pattern, sports participation, screen time and mental health in Swedish adolescents. BMJ open, 12, e061929. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061929.
Konrad, C., Hillmann, M., Rispler, J., Niehaus, L., Neuhoff, L., & Barr, R. (2021). Quality of Mother-Child Interaction before, during, and after Smartphone Use. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.616656.
Lambert, J., Barnstable, G., Minter, E., Cooper, J., & McEwan, D. (2022). Taking a one-week Break from Social Media improves Well-Being, Depression, and anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking, 25, 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2021.0324.
Li, L., Zhang, Q., Zhu, L., Zeng, G., Huang, H., Zhuge, J., Kuang, X., & Wu, C. (2022). Screen time and depression risk: A meta-analysis of cohort studies. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1058572. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1058572.
Liu, S., Coulter, R., Sui, W., Nuss, K., & E Rhodes, R. (2023). Determinants of recreational screen time behavior following the COVID-19 pandemic among Canadian adults. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism = Physiologie Appliquee Nutrition et metabolisme, 48(8), 595–602. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2022-0379.
Madhav, K. C., Sherchand, S. P., & Sherchan, S. (2017). Association between screen time and depression among US adults. Preventive Medicine Reports, 8, 67–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.08.005.
Manwell, L. A., Barbic, S. P., Roberts, K., Durisko, Z., Lee, C., Ware, E., & McKenzie, K. (2015). What is mental health? Evidence towards a new definition from a mixed methods multidisciplinary international survey. British Medical Journal Open, 5, e007079. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007079.
Manwell, L. A., Tadros, M., Ciccarelli, T. M., & Eikelboom, R. (2022). Digital dementia in the internet generation: Excessive screen time during brain development will increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in adulthood. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 21(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2101028.
Maurya, C., Muhammad, T., Maurya, P., & Dhillon, P. (2022). The association of smartphone screen time with sleep problems among adolescents and young adults: Cross-sectional findings from India. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1686. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14076-x.
Mckniff, M., Simone, S. M., & Giovannetti, T. (2023). Age, loneliness, and Social Media use in adults during COVID-19: A latent Profile Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(11), 5969. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20115969.
Meyer, J., McDowell, C., Lansing, J., Brower, C., Smith, L., Tully, M., & Herring, M. (2020). Changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior in response to COVID-19 and their associations with Mental Health in 3052 US adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 6469. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186469.
Meyer, J. D., O’Connor, J., McDowell, C. P., Lansing, J. E., Brower, C. S., & Herring, M. P. (2021). High sitting time is a behavioral risk factor for blunted improvement in Depression Across 8 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in April-May 2020. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 741433. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.741433.
Moola, S., Munn, Z., Tufanaru, C., Aromataris, E., Sears, K., Sfetcu, R., Currie, M., & Mu, P. F. (2020). Chapter 7: Systematic reviews of etiology and risk. In: Aromataris E., Munn Z (Eds.). JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. JBI. https://synthesismanual.jbi.global.
Moukarzel, A., Michelet, P., Durand, A. C., Sebbane, M., Bourgeois, S., Markarian, T., Bompard, C., & Gentile, S. (2019). Burnout syndrome among Emergency Department Staff: Prevalence and Associated factors. BioMed Research International, 6462472. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/6462472.
Murray, C. J., Vos, T., Lozano, R., Naghavi, M., Flaxman, A. D., Michaud, C., Ezzati, M., & Memish, Z. A. (2012). Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: A systematic analysis for the global burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet (London England), 380(9859), 2197–2223. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61689-4.
Nakshine, V. S., Thute, P., Khatib, M. N., & Sarkar, B. (2022). Increased screen time as a cause of declining Physical, Psychological Health, and sleep patterns: A Literary Review. Cureus, 14(10), e30051. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30051.
Nordin, T., Lundgren, A. S., & Nilsson, I. (2023). Constructing loneliness: Home care providers’ notions of older adults’ social needs and the possibilities of the home care profession to support social participation. Journal of Aging Studies, 65, 101130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2023.101130.
Nwankwo, F., Shin, H. D., Al-Habaibeh, A., & Massoud, H. (2019). Evaluation of Children’s Screen Viewing Time and Parental Role in Household Context. Global Pediatric Health, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794X19878062.
Olds, T., Burton, N. W., Sprod, J., Maher, C., Ferrar, K., Brown, W. J., van Uffelen, J., & Dumuid, D. (2018). One day you’ll wake up and won’t have to go to work: The impact of changes in time use on mental health following retirement. PloS one, 13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199605.
Pallavicini, J., Ferrari, A., & Mantovani, F. (2018). Video games for Well-Being: A systematic review on the application of Computer games for cognitive and emotional training in the Adult Population. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2127. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02127.
Park, J. J., King, D. L., Wilkinson-Meyers, L., & Rodda, S. N. (2022). Content and effectiveness of web-based treatments for online behavioral addictions. Systematic Review JMIR Mental Health, 9(9), e36662. https://doi.org/10.2196/36662.
Pittman, M., & Reich, B. (2016). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Comput Human Behav, 62, 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.084.
Pittman, M., & Steiner, E. (2021). Distinguishing feast-watching from cringe-watching: Planned, social, and attentive binge-watching predicts increased well-being and decreased regret. Convergence, 27, 1507–1524.
Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. F. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841–1848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.02.014.
Qiu, Y., Xie, Y. J., Chen, L., Wang, S. L., Yang, H., Huang, Z., Liu, P., & Mo, B. (2021). Electronic media device usage and its associations with BMI and obesity in a rapidly developing City in South China. Front Public Health, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.551613.
Ratan, Z. A., Parrish, A. M., Zaman, S. B., Alotaibi, M. S., & Hosseinzadeh, H. (2021). Smartphone Addiction and Associated Health Outcomes in adult populations: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 12257. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212257.
Raza, S. H., Yousaf, M., Sohail, F., Munawar, R., Ogadimma, E. C., & Siang, J. (2021). Investigating binge-watching adverse Mental Health outcomes during Covid-19 pandemic: Moderating role of screen time for web series using online streaming. Psychol Res Behav Manag, 14, 1615–1629. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S328416.
Rebar, A. L., Vandelanotte, C., van Uffelen, J., Short, C., & Duncan, M. J. (2014). Associations of overall sitting time and sitting time in different contexts with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 7, 105–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2014.02.004.
Ross, R., Chaput, J. P., Giangregorio, L. M., Janssen, I., Saunders, T. J., Kho, M. E., & Tremblay, M. S. (2020). Canadian 24-Hour Movement guidelines for adults aged 18–64 years and adults aged 65 years or older: An integration of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, 45(10), S57–S102. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2020-0467.
Runacres, A., Mackintosh, K. A., Knight, R. L., Sheeran, L., Thatcher, R., Shelley, J., & McNarry, M. A. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sedentary time and behaviour in children and adults: A systematic review and Meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), 11286. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111286.
Sanders, W., Parent, J., Forehand, R., Sullivan, A. D., & Jones, D. J. (2016). Parental perceptions of technology and technology-focused parenting: Associations with youth screen time. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 44, 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2016.02.005.
Scheve, A., Bandawe, C., Kohler, H. P., & Kohler, I. V. (2022). Mental health and life-course shocks in a low-income country: Evidence from Malawi. SSM - population Health, 19, 101098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101098.
Schneider, F. M., Zwillich, B., Bindl, M. J., Hopp, F. R., Reich, S., & Vorderer, P. (2017). Ostracismo Nas mídias sociais: Os efeitos de ser excluído online. Comput Human Behav, 73, 385–393.
Senerat, A. M., Pope, Z. C., Rydell, S. A., Mullan, A. F., Roger, V. L., & Pereira, M. A. (2023). Psychosocial and behavioral outcomes in the adult workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: A 1-Year longitudinal survey. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 634. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15536-8.
Sewall, C. J. R., Goldstein, T. R., & Rosen, D. (2021). Objectively measured digital technology use during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among young adults. Journal of Affective Disorders, 288, 145–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.008.
Shamseer, L., Moher, D., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., & Stewart, L. A. (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA) 2015: Elaboration and explanation. Bmj, 349. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7647.
Sigmundová, D., Sigmund, E., Badura, P., Vokáčová, J., Trhlíková, L., & Bucksch, J. (2016). Weekday-weekend patterns of physical activity and screen time in parents and their pre-schoolers. BMC Public Health, 16, 898. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3586-8.
Silva, D., Prado, W. L., Cucato, G. G., Correia, M. A., Ritti-Dias, R. M., Lofrano-Prado, M. C., Tebar, W. R., & Christofaro, D. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity level and screen time is associated with decreased mental health in brazillian adults: A cross-sectional epidemiological study. Psychiatry Research, 314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114657.
Small, G. W., Lee, J., Kaufman, A., Jalil, J., Siddarth, P., Gaddipati, H., Moody, T. D., & Bookheimer, S. Y. (2020). Brain health consequences of digital technology use. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22, 179–187. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2020.22.2/gsmall.
Starosta, J. A., & Izydorczyk, B. (2020). Understanding the phenomenon of binge-Watching-A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 4469. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124469.
Stenholm, S., & Vahtera, J. (2017). Does retirement benefit health? Preventive Medicine, 100, 294–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.05.007.
Tamminen, N., Reinikainen, J., Appelqvist-Schmidlechner, K., Borodulin, K., Mäki-Opas, T., & Solin, P. (2020). Associations of physical activity with positive mental health: A population-based study. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2020.100319.
Tashiro, T., Maeda, N., Tsutsumi, S., Komiya, M., Arima, S., Mizuta, R., Fukui, K., Nishikawa, Y., & Urabe, Y. (2022). Association between sedentary behavior and depression among Japanese medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional online survey. BMC Psychiatry, 22(1), 348. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03997-x.
Teychenne, M., Costigan, S. A., & Parker, K. (2015). The association between sedentary behaviour and risk of anxiety: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 15, 513. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1843-x.
Teychenne, M., Stephens, L. D., Costigan, S. A., Olstad, D. L., Stubbs, B., & Turner, A. I. (2019). The association between sedentary behaviour and indicators of stress: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1357. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7717-x.
Toth, G., Kapus, K., Hesszenberger, D., Pohl, M., Kosa, G., Kiss, J., Pusch, G., & Feher, G. (2021). Internet addiction and burnout in a single hospital: Is there any Association? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 615. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020615.
Tsou, M. T. (2022). Influence of prolonged visual Display Terminal Use on Physical and Mental conditions among Health Care workers at Tertiary hospitals, Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 3770. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073770.
Vally, Z., & D’Souza, C. G. (2019). Abstinence from social media use, subjective well-being, stress, and loneliness. Perspectives in Psychiatric care, 55, 752–759. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12431.
Vieira, F., Muraro, A. P., Rodrigues, P., Sichieri, R., Pereira, R. A., & Ferreira, M. G. (2021). Lifestyle-related behaviors and depressive symptoms in college students. Cad Saúde Pública, 37. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00202920.
Vizcaino, M., Buman, M., DesRoches, C. T., & Wharton, C. (2019). Reliability of a new measure to assess modern screen time in adults. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1386. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7745-6.
Vizcaino, M., Buman, M., DesRoches, T., & Wharton, C. (2020). From TVs to tablets: The relation between device-specific screen time and health-related behaviors and characteristics. BMC Public Health, 20, 1295. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09410-0.
Wang, X., Li, Y., & Fan, H. (2019). The associations between screen time-based sedentary behavior and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1524. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7904-9.
Wang, Y., Xu, J., & Xie, T. (2022). The Association of Internet Use Intensity and Lifestyle behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Chinese adults. Front Public Health, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.934306.
Werneck, A. O., Oyeyemi, A. L., Szwarcwald, C. L., Stubbs, B., & Silva, D. R. (2019). Potential influence of physical, psychological and lifestyle factors on the association between television viewing and depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study. General Hospital Psychiatry, 60, 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.07.005.
Wiciak, M. T., Shazley, O., & Santhosh, D. (2022). An observational report of screen time use among young adults (ages 18–28) during the COVID-19 pandemic and correlations with mental health and wellness: An international online cross-sectional study. JMIR Form Res, 6, https://doi.org/10.2196/38370.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2019). To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news/item/24-04-2019-to-grow-up-healthy-children-need-to-sit-less-and-play-more [accessed 08 September 2023].
World Health Organization (WHO) (2001). Mental health: strengthening our resposte. Genebra, Suíça. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs220/en/ (accessed 10 August 2022).
World Health Organization (WHO) (2022a). Mental disorders. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders, (Accessed 15 August 2022).
World Health Organization (WHO) (2022b). Mental Health and COVID-19: Early evidence of the pandemic’s impact: Scientific brief, 2 March 2022. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Sci_Brief-Mental_health-2022.1, (Accessed 15 August 2022).
Wu, X., Tao, S., Zhang, Y., Zhang, S., & Tao, F. (2015). Low physical activity and high screen time can increase the risks of mental health problems and poor sleep quality among Chinese college students. PloS One, 10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119607.
Wu, X., Tao, S., Zhang, S., Zhang, Y., Chen, K., Yang, Y., Hao, J., & Tao, F. (2016). Impact of screen time on mental health problems progression in youth: A 1-year follow-up study. BMJ open, 6, e011533. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011533.
Xu, Z., Zhang, D., Xu, D., Li, X., Xie, Y. J., Sun, W., Hon-kei Yip, B., & Yueng-shan, S. (2021). Wong, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder among Chinese adults during COVID-19: A cross-sectional online survey. Plos One, 16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259012.
Yoon, S., Kleinman, M., Mertz, J., & Brannick, M. (2019). Is social network site usage related to depression? A meta-analysis of Facebook-depression relations. Journal of Affective Disorders, 248, 65–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.026.
Yu, B., Gu, Y., Bao, X., Meng, G., Wu, H., Zhang, Q., Liu, L., & Niu, K. (2019). Distinct associations of computer/mobile devices use and TV watching with depressive symptoms in adults: A large population study in China. Depression and Anxiety, 36, 879–886. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22932.
Yung, J. Y. K., Wong, V., Ho, G. W. K., & Molassiotis, A. (2021). Understanding the experiences of hikikomori through the lens of the CHIME framework: Connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning in life, and empowerment; systematic review. BMC Psychology, 9(1), 104. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00605-7.
Zhang, Y., Wu, X., Tao, S., Li, S., Ma, L., Yu, Y., Sun, G., & Tao, F. (2021). Associations between screen time, physical activity, and depressive symptoms during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak among Chinese college students. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 26(1), 107. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-021-01025-0.
Zhang, Y., Zhang, Q., Hu, W., Zhan, N., Zou, J., Wang, J., & Geng, F. (2022). The relationships between screen time and mental health problems among Chinese adults. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 146, 279–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.11.017.
Zhou, H., Dai, X., Lou, L., Zhou, C., & Zhang, W. (2021). Association of Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity with Depression in Sport University students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189881.
Zink, J., Belcher, B. R., Imm, K., & Leventhal, A. M. (2020). The relationship between screen-based sedentary behaviors and symptoms of depression and anxiety in youth: A systematic review of moderating variables. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 472. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08572-1.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. Material preparation, data collection and data analysis were performed by [Renata Maria Silva Santos], [Samara de Alcântara Ventura] and [Yago Jean de Almeida Nogueira]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Renata Maria Silva Santos] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Santos, R., Ventura, S., Nogueira, Y. et al. The Associations Between Screen Time and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review. J. technol. behav. sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-024-00398-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-024-00398-7