Cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations of screen time with adolescent depression and anxiety

作者：Sophie H. Li, P. Batterham, Alexis E. Whitton, Kate Maston, Asaduzzaman Khan, Helen Christensen, A. Werner-Seidler · 发表于：British Journal of Clinical Psychology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1111/bjc.12547 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Medicine

Abstract Objective The relationship between screen time and mental health in adolescents is debated in the scientific literature, with longitudinal studies lacking. This study examined the cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between screen time and depression and anxiety and the influence of maladaptive social media use and gender on these associations. Methods We analysed a sample of 4058 adolescents (mean age = 13.9) recruited from 134 Australian schools as part of the Future Proofing Study, a 5‐year prospective cohort study of adolescent mental health. Linear mixed models used Time 1 and Time 2 (12‐month follow‐up) data to examine cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations of screen time with depression and anxiety and the influence of maladaptive social media use and gender. Results Screen time was associated with mental health symptoms cross‐sectionally, with each additional hour of screen time corresponding with a 1.25 and .79 increase in measures of depression and anxiety, respectively. Longitudinally, these associations were markedly weaker. Each additional hour of screen time corresponded with only a .15 increase in depression at 12 months and showed no association with anxiety at 12 months. Neither gender nor maladaptive social media use substantially influenced screen time–symptom associations. Conclusions Compared to cross‐sectional associations, longitudinal associations were weak, indicating that high screen time is unlikely to cause depression and ...