A recent study from Karolinska Institutet, published in *Nature Human Behaviour*, suggests that the connection between high screen use and mental health issues in young people may be largely influenced by shared family factors such as genetics and upbringing.
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Research specialist Tong Gong, who co-authored the study with senior researcher Lu Yi, stated that the findings indicate the previously reported association may have been overestimated due to difficulties in accounting for these shared influences.
The study tracked over 21,000 Swedish twins from age 9 into adulthood, aiming to explore the relationship between leisure screen time and symptoms of depression and anxiety. By comparing twins in the same family, where one twin used screens more than the other, the researchers assessed how shared genetic and environmental factors affected this association.
Clear links were noted during adolescence, particularly for interactive activities like gaming and chatting, whereas passive screen activities such as watching TV showed weaker connections to mental health problems. For instance, 15-year-olds who engaged in more than six hours of interactive screen time daily reported higher symptoms of depression or anxiety and were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with such conditions later compared to peers who used screens for two hours or less. However, when twin comparisons were analyzed, many of these relationships diminished, especially among identical twins.
Gong pointed out that while these correlations did not entirely vanish, they weakened significantly, underscoring the impact of genetics and upbringing. The researchers cautioned that the study does not imply screen time is unimportant for mental health. Instead, interactive screen activities during adolescence were still associated with an increased risk of issues later in life, although the uncertainty grew when factoring in shared family influences.
The research relied on self-reported screen usage data, which does not specify the nature of the activities or the motivations behind them. Additionally, the data were collected before the rise of social media and smartphones as predominant aspects of daily life.
Looking ahead, the researchers plan to delve deeper into different types of screen-based activities, exploring their content, motivations, and the potential for problematic use, as well as what activities screen time might be replacing. This comprehensive understanding is aimed at revealing how these dynamics differ across age groups and between genders.
Emma Frans, senior research specialist and co-author, highlighted the need for future recommendations to focus not just on the duration of screen time but also on the nature of activities, motivations, and family-related factors that may influence youths' well-being.