Screen Time Effects on Adolescent Mental health – STEAM

The STEAM project aims to:

• Increase knowledge about how young people use digital screens.
• Understand the effects of screen use on their mental health.
• Explore how harmful effects of digital technology use can be minimised.

We focus on how screen time affects young people and health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and suicidality – through complex psychological phenomena such as emotional regulation, sleep, resilience, social needs, and personal identity.

Current research suggests that the mental health effects of screen time are relatively small, although clinically significant for a minority of individuals. However, certain effects are widely observed across several population groups, which strongly indicates that this knowledge is important from a public health perspective. Examples include the negative impact of screens on sleep, problem-solving, addictive behaviours, and the effects of social media and exposure to stressful or traumatising screen content.

The goal of the STEAM project is to contribute both theoretical insights and practical advice and guidelines on issues related to screen health and young people.

Research Findings

Our analyses have focused on aspects of sleep – such as quality, duration, and chronotype (whether one is a morning or evening person) – as well as stress management strategies (e.g. problem-solving, emotional regulation, and help-seeking behaviour), and how these aspects and strategies explain or influence the relationship between screen time and depression and other health outcomes.

So far, the project has resulted in three main studies, which showed that longer screen time was associated with sleep deprivation and reduced ability to manage stress through problem-solving, in both boys and girls. Among boys, screen time was directly linked to elevated levels of depression the following year, regardless of its impact on sleep or the extent of sleep problems caused by screen time. Among girls, we observed an indirect effect: 38–58 percent of future depression levels were explained by screen time first having a disruptive effect on their sleep. A weaker tendency for problem-solving was seen in both boys and girls whose depression trajectories worsened over time.

Key findings:

• Longer screen time was associated with sleep deprivation and a reduced ability to manage stress. The studies also showed that screen time preceded depression, rather than the other way around.
• The unhealthy effects of screen time were generally more pronounced in girls. Among girls, screen time negatively impacted sleep, which in turn contributed to increased levels of depression. Among boys, screen time more often had a direct link to later elevated depression levels.
• Girls reported more proactive or engaged stress management strategies, but this did not appear to offer extra protection against mental health issues.
• Self-reported positive consequences of screen time did not seem to result in positive health outcomes.

Effective stress management strategies and consistent, sufficient sleep are crucial components for psychological and physiological resilience against depressive conditions. Most adolescents today do not meet the recommended guidelines for either sleep or screen time. At the same time, it is difficult to determine causality – whether screen time and sleep deprivation lead to mental health issues, or vice versa.

Data Sources

The data used and analysed in the STEAM project are so-called “secondary data” from larger experimental studies. Data were initially collected from the EU-funded SUPREME project, but primarily from the Stockholm School Data Analysis Project. These two cluster-randomised controlled trials (C-RCTs) gathered health survey data from over 10,636 lower secondary school students in Stockholm County and approximately 1,494 students from six other EU countries.

In the EU-based study, follow-ups were conducted after 2 and 4 months. In Stockholm, follow-up data collections were carried out after 3 and 12 months. Data collection took place between 2012–2013 and 2016–2019. Altogether, the data covered 11,857 students from 85 different schools, of which 64 were located in Stockholm County.

References

Main publications

Hökby S, Hadlaczky G ... Carli V. Are Mental Health Effects of Internet Use Attributable to the Web-Based Content or Perceived Consequences of Usage? A Longitudinal Study of European Adolescents? JMIR Ment Health. 2016. 13;3(3):e31. https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.5925

Hökby S, Westerlund J, Alvarsson J, Carli V, Hadlaczky G. Longitudinal Effects of Screen Time on Depressive Symptoms among Swedish Adolescents: The Moderating and Mediating Role of Coping Engagement Behavior. IJERPH. 2023;20(4):37. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043771

Hökby S., et al. Adolescents' screen time displaces multiple sleep pathways and elevates depressive symptoms over twelve months. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025, 2;5(4):e0004262. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0004262

Related referenced works

Lemke T; Hokby S; Carli V; Hadlaczky G. Sleep Duration and Quality in Adolescents: Associations With Suicidal Ideation JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE. 2025;97(4):1113-1120

Lemke T; Hokby S; Wasserman D; Carli V; Hadlaczky G. Associations between sleep habits, quality, chronotype and depression in a large cross-sectional sample of Swedish adolescents PLOS ONE. 2023;18(11):e0293580