New Delhi, April 3 Excessive screen time among adolescents negatively impacts multiple aspects of sleep, which in turn increases the risk of depressive symptoms, according to a study.
The associations were particularly strong among girls, said researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden
Previous studies have suggested associations between screen time, sleep disruptions, and depression in teens. However, sleep problems and depression often coincide, and the direction of these associations has been unclear.
In the new study, published in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health, the researchers tracked 4,810 Swedish students aged 12-16, collecting data on sleep quality and quantity, depressive symptoms, and screen usage at three time points over a year.
The findings showed that increased screen time led to deteriorated sleep within three months, impacting both the duration and quality of sleep.
Screen time was also found to postpone sleep times towards later hours -- disrupting multiple aspects of the human sleep-wake cycle at once.
Among boys, screen time had a direct adverse effect on depression after twelve months, while among girls the depressive effect was mediated through sleep disturbances.
Sleep could explain about half (38 per cent-57 per cent) of the association between screen time and depression in girls.
Boys who spent more time on screens also experienced sleep disruptions, but these were not strongly associated with later depression, the study showed.
“We found that adolescents who reported longer screen times also developed poorer sleep habits over time. In turn, this led to increased depression levels, especially among girls,” said the researchers led by Sebastian Hokby from Karolinska Institutet.
While there's no single, universally agreed-upon amount of screen time for adolescents, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends less than 2 hours of screen time per day for children over age five through adolescence.
Sleep and depression often coincide, and both may have consequences for the development of cognitive abilities and emotion regulation abilities.
The researchers called for reducing screen time for better sleep and mental health.
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