Screen time is GOOD for teen brains: Why 257 minutes is the ‘sweet spot’ before computers damage mental health and behavior

Hours of screen time can be good for teenagers’ brains, according to new research from the University of Oxford.

The study insists many parents may be too concerned about computers harming their children.

In fact, they calculated the ‘sweet spot’ at which point young people get the most out of online activity: 257 minutes.

According to their calculations, four hours and 17 minutes is the Goldilocks number, providing enough time to develop social connections and skills.

It is only after that point that devices could begin to cripple teenage brains.

Researchers found there is little evidence screen time damages teenagers

‘Our findings suggest that adolescents’ moderate screen use has no detectable link to well-being and levels of engagement above these points are modestly correlated with well-being,’ lead author Andrew Przybylski, a psychological scientist, explained.

‘When we looked at the existing literature as scientists, and parents, we saw an area rich in opinions but short on evidence.

‘We were surprised how poorly linked the literature was to the advice provided to caregivers and educators.’

The study, published today in the Association for Psychological Science, analyzed data measuring screen time and well-being collected from 120,115 15 year-olds. 

The teens completed a well-established self-report measure of mental well-being and answered questions gauging how much time they spent engaging with different types of digital activities.

This included watching TV, playing computer- and console-based games, using computers to surf the web and check email, and using smartphones socially.

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Nearly all of the participating adolescents (99.9 percent) reported spending time using at least one type of device on a daily basis.

Predictably, they spent more time online on weekend days than on weekdays.

Smartphones were the most popular device as opposed to watching TV, playing games, and using the internet on a computer.

As the researchers expected, the data they analyzed showed teens’ well-being increased as their screen time increased, up to a certain point. 

After that point, increased screen time was associated with decreased well-being.

These trends remained even after the researchers accounted for gender, ethnic background, and socioeconomic background.

Using statistical methods, the researchers also broke down the tipping point for each type of activity. 

They found that, on weekdays, teens using video games experienced a peak at about one hour and 40 minutes.

Smartphone use peaked at 1 hour 57 minutes on weekdays.

Meanwhile watching videos on a TV provided optimum benefit at 3 hours and 41 minutes, and computers were most beneficial at 4 hours and 17 minutes.

In general, the points at which screen time turned potentially harmful were even higher on weekend days.

Przybylski concluded that moderate digital engagement is unlikely to convey any real risk to teens’ well-being.

Any risks, he says, are likely to be small even at high levels of engagement.

He urges both caregivers and policymakers to take stock. 

‘There is good reason to think that parents really struggle to meet stringent professional guidance on screen time,’ he explains. 

‘Our work confirms that policy guidance on digital screens should be based on work that test explicit hypotheses about possible technology effects.’