Teens who spend excessive time on sedentary activities, especially screen-based ones, are more likely to experience psychological distress, according to new research. The study suggests limiting recreational screen time to under three hours daily to mitigate these risks.
Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day engaged in sedentary activities, such as playing video games or browsing the internet, face a higher risk of psychological distress, according to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
The study was conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, which analyzed data from the Millennium Cohort Study, tracking 3,675 adolescents from ages 14 to 17.
The findings revealed that while moderate screen time devoted to educational purposes could be beneficial, excessive leisure screen time and prolonged reading were linked to increased levels of psychological distress.
According to lead author André de Oliveira Werneck, a doctoral student in the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health at the University of São Paulo’s School of Public Health, the use of detailed activity diaries set this research apart. Data collected via diaries provide more accurate insights compared to other methods such as accelerometers or memory-based questionnaires.
“Having a record of all the activities of these adolescents, formalized in a diary, provides a much more faithful result and has a more reliable accuracy of the different time periods. It’s not common to use this type of tool, precisely because it’s difficult to implement,” Werneck said in a news release.
The study discovered that adolescents spent about four hours a day on educational activities and around three hours on screen and non-screen leisure activities.
Astonishingly, those who devoted more than three hours daily to leisure screen activities were more prone to psychological distress by age 17. Moreover, despite common beliefs about the benefits of reading, the study found that excessive reading also correlated with increased distress, particularly among boys.
“We found that adolescents who spent more than three hours a day on screen-based leisure activities showed significantly greater psychological distress three years later. Video games were particularly influential, with each additional hour associated with a 3% increase in psychological distress,” added Brendon Stubbs, a researcher at King’s College London who supervised the study.
The research highlights a dose-response relationship between recreational screen time and mental health. Educational screen use, however, did not show similar negative effects.
“Importantly, this relationship was context-dependent, meaning that educational screen time did not show the same negative effects, highlighting that the problem is not screen use per se, but how and why screens are used,” Stubbs added.
Based on these findings, the researchers propose interventions to mitigate the psychological impact of sedentary behavior:
- Set clear limits on recreational screen time to less than three hours per day
- Encourage more educational and structured screen activities
- Promote alternative leisure activities involving social interaction
- Tailor interventions to address gender-specific patterns of screen use
- Ensure adequate academic engagement through moderate homework and class time
Werneck emphasized the complexity of sedentary behavior in adolescents.
“We need to focus on interventions that not only reduce sedentary behavior but also reduce it in some specific and very long activities that are more associated with psychological distress,” he concluded.
The findings underscore the importance of balanced screen time and suggest strategies for minimizing the negative psychological effects of sedentary activities among adolescents.