Screen time is associated with depression and anxiety in Canadian youth

Maras, Danijela; Flament, Martine F.; Murray, Marisa; Buchholz, Annick; Henderson, Katherine A.; Obeid, Nicole; Goldfield, Gary S.

doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.01.029

Cited by 300 publications

(290 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Importantly, this significant finding should also be interpreted with caution due to the small size of the observed relationship. Still, our finding is consistent with reports that excessive gaming relates to heightened levels of depressive symptoms among adolescents (Maras et al 2015). Anxious and depressive symptoms emerge in children who feel a lack of control over their environment (Seligman 2007).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Among adolescents, such gamers seem to have elevated depression symptoms compared to their peers (Messias et al 2011). A recent, large scale, cross-sectional study among Canadian adolescents also indicated that video game play was positively associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety (Maras et al 2015). These findings are consistent with the conclusions made in a review by Kuss and Griffiths (2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study

Lobel

Engels

Stone

et al. 2017

J Youth Adolescence

151

104

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The effects of video games on children’s psychosocial development remain the focus of debate. At two timepoints, 1 year apart, 194 children (7.27–11.43 years old; male = 98) reported their gaming frequency, and their tendencies to play violent video games, and to game (a) cooperatively and (b) competitively; likewise, parents reported their children’s psychosocial health. Gaming at time one was associated with increases in emotion problems. Violent gaming was not associated with psychosocial changes. Cooperative gaming was not associated with changes in prosocial behavior. Finally, competitive gaming was associated with decreases in prosocial behavior, but only among children who played video games with high frequency. Thus, gaming frequency was related to increases in internalizing but not externalizing, attention, or peer problems, violent gaming was not associated with increases in externalizing problems, and for children playing approximately 8 h or more per week, frequent competitive gaming may be a risk factor for decreasing prosocial behavior. We argue that replication is needed and that future research should better distinguish between different forms of gaming for more nuanced and generalizable insight.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study

Lobel

Engels

Stone

et al. 2017

J Youth Adolescence

151

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This finding is novel in light of previous literature which has reported higher levels of depression among high internet users in combined male and female adolescent populations [3, 34–36]. This finding is particularly important given significantly higher rates of depression among adolescent females compared to males, and the need for novel treatment and prevention initiatives.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

Depression, psychological distress and Internet use among community-based Australian adolescents: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2017

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BackgroundThere has been rapid increase in time spent using Internet as a platform for entertainment, socialising and information sourcing. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between duration of time spent using Internet for leisure, depressive symptoms, and psychological distress among Australian adolescents.MethodsDepressive symptoms were indicated by the youth self-report module from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Version IV criteria, and psychological distress was measured by Kessler Psychological Distress scale. Internet use was self-reported based on use on an average weekday, and an average weekend day. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between Internet use and mental health outcomes. Models were adjusted for potential confounders: age; relative level of socio-economic disadvantage, and body mass index.ResultsAdolescents were aged 11–17 years (M = 14.5 years, SD = 2.04 years). Greatest time spent using internet (≥7 h a day) was significantly associated with experiencing depressive symptoms among females (OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.16, 3.76, p < 0.05), and high/very high levels of psychological distress for male (OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.36, 3.65, p < 0.01) and female (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.55, 3.67, p < 0.01) adolescents.ConclusionsWith current initiatives to improve health behaviours among adolescents to improve physical health outcomes such as overweight or obesity, it is imperative that the reciprocal relationship with mental health is known and included in such public health developments. Internet use may interact with mental health and therefore could be a modifiable risk factor to reach and improve mental health outcomes for this age group. Caution is advised in interpretation of findings, with some inconsistencies emerging from this evidence.

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“…32 33 Previous studies have indicated that time spent on computer and video games may be more common than time spent on watching TV. 10 Future studies are needed that investigate different types of ST and the effects on mental health associated with each type of ST.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of screen time on mental health problems progression in youth: a 1-year follow-up study

Tao

Zhang

et al. 2016

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesWe examined the relationships between screen time (ST) and mental health problems and also increment of ST and progression of mental health problems in a college-based sample of Chinese youth.MethodsWe assessed 2521 Chinese college freshmen from October 2013 to December 2014. At baseline, the mean age of participants was 18.43 years (SD 0.96 years), and 1215 (48.2%) participants reported ST >2 h/day. We estimated multivariable-adjusted ORs by using logistic regression models for the risk of developing mental health problems (anxiety, depression and psychopathological symptoms) and/or progression of these problems, according to baseline ST exposure and changes in exposure at follow-up.ResultsAt baseline, when ST >2 h/day was compared with ST ≤2 h/day, the OR was 1.38 (95% CI 1.15 to 1.65) for anxiety, 1.55 (95% CI 1.25 to 1.93) for depression and 1.49 (95% CI 1.22 to 1.83) for psychopathological symptoms. The results remained unchanged for depressive and psychopathological symptoms but not for anxiety, after additional adjustment for sex, age, residential background, body mass index, perceived family economy, sleep quality, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise after school and physical activity. When participants who had increased their ST exposure to >2 h/day were compared with those with no change and ST ≤2 h/day, the OR was 1.78 (95% CI 1.12 to 2.83) for anxiety, 1.92 (95% CI 1.23 to 2.83) for depression and 1.93 (95% CI 1.16 to 3.21) for psychopathological symptoms. These associations also remained after additional adjustment.ConclusionsThe overall effects are consistent yet small for ST/ST increment on mental health problems and its progression. Given the small effect size of the current results, it remains unclear the degree to which ST is a practically significant risk factor for mental health outcomes. Future studies of high quality are necessary to further examine this association and the direction of causality.

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Screen time is associated with depression and anxiety in Canadian youth

Cited by 300 publications

References 47 publications

Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study

Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study

Depression, psychological distress and Internet use among community-based Australian adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Impact of screen time on mental health problems progression in youth: a 1-year follow-up study

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