Written by Leah Tipple
How many times have you heard that young people these days are ’glued’ to their phones? In this digital age, the temptation to use screens is constant since they are so readily available, have many uses and utilize addictive features. But can digital screen use have a negative impact on mental wellbeing? Well, Andrew Przybylski and Netta Weinstein wanted to find out…
Przybylski and Weinstein set out to investigate the ‘digital Goldilocks hypothesis’. This is based on the fairy-tale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ in which Goldilocks finds moderation in porridge, with one being ‘too hot’, one ‘too cold’ and the last ‘just right’. The digital Goldilocks hypothesis applies this principle to screen usage: in moderation, screen time can be just right too, and may even be beneficial. However, if the balance is not right, too little or too much screen time may negatively impact mental wellbeing.
In their study, the researchers looked at the link between digital screen time and wellbeing using the Warwick-Edinburgh Well-Being Scale in a sample of 120,115 adolescent English 15-year-olds. They found that high levels of screen time (2 hours or more on a smartphone per day) were related to lower psychological wellbeing, particularly on weekdays. However, they also found that very low amounts of screen time, or none at all, could also be linked to a negative effect on mental wellbeing. Somewhere in the middle, at just under one hour of smartphone use per day, was associated with optimal wellbeing.
“How can too little screen time have a negative impact on wellbeing?”, I hear you say? Well, Luyckx and colleagues suggested that the use of technology might be important in the development of identity and social skills, which subsequently supports mental wellbeing. For example, Lenhart and colleagues found that, in 2015, 83% of adolescents reported that social media made them feel more connected to their friends. Similarly, they found that 38% of adolescent males share their online gaming handles when they first meet someone they wish to be friends with. Therefore, moderate use of digital engagement may be beneficial for development, and none or very little use of technology may deprive teens of these social interactions.
You might now be wondering whether these phone screen effects hold for TV screens. The answer is yes. The displacement hypothesis (Neuman, 1988) suggests that TV screen time replaces the time that should be spent on other activities, such as physical activity or schoolwork. Susan Neuman from the University of Lowell investigated whether watching TV affects students reading achievement by displacing activities that are important in the development of reading skills. Her findings show that differences in reading scores for students who watched 2-4 hours of television a day are minimal. However, when viewing exceeds 4 hours there are negative effects. This effect on student’s education may consequently impact their sense of self-worth if they believe they are failing in school, negatively impacting their mental wellbeing. So, the Goldilocks hypothesis exists with TV too: moderate use of screens may be beneficial, but once it exceeds a certain amount of time, negative consequences can occur.
These sorts of studies are important because they mean something to us, the everyday person. When we, or our teens, are scrolling through seemingly endless news feeds, we need to remember that it may be not be such a wise thing to do. Although a consensus hasn’t been reached on what the ‘ideal’ balance of screen time is, various studies indicate that too much or too little time on these devices could have negative implications for our mental wellbeing. Therefore, it may be time to consider putting restrictions in place on your device! Did you know that many smartphones have a feature that enables you to track your screen time; when was the last time you looked at yours? You may be shocked by what you see…
References
Lenhart, A., Smith, A., Anderson, M., Duggan, M., & Perrin, A. (2015). Teens, technology and friendships.
Luyckx, K., Soenens, B., Goossens, L., Beckx, K., & Wouters, S. (2008). Identity exploration and commitment in late adolescence: Correlates of perfectionism and mediating mechanisms on the pathway to well–being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27(4), 336-361.
Neuman, S. B. (1988). The displacement effect: Assessing the relation between television viewing and reading performance. Reading research quarterly, 414-440.
Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2017). A large-scale test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis: Quantifying the relations between digital-screen use and the mental well-being of adolescents. Psychological Science, 28(2), 204-215.