How do screens affect us?

Instances of Myopia on the rise is often touted as a direct effect of screen time. However, there doesn’t seem to be any literature that shows screens are any worse for your eyes than reading a book or any other up-close activity. What does seem to be having an impact is the amount of time we spend at our screens and the fact that we tend to blink less when looking at screens. This may affect the way we think about schedules and distribution of screen time. For example, rather than having 30 minutes of reading (close up activity) followed by 30 minutes of screen time (close up activity) followed by 30 minutes of study (close up activity), we may choose to intersperse the activities with pursuits that require us to focus on objects at a further distance. For example, we may read for 30 minutes (close up activity), play outside for 30 minutes (further distance), screen time 30 minutes (close up), practise guitar (further distance), homework 30 minutes (close up).

It's quite common to see headlines saying things like 'Screens linked to increases in ADHD' however, as a whole, the research doesn’t seem to suggest that screen time is the root cause of ADHD or OCD. Gentile et al (2012) did a study of around 20,000 children in Singapore. They suggest there is a bidirectional relationship in that children who already showed ADHD or OCD tendencies were more likely to be engaged in more screen time (particularly video games) which then seemed to exacerbate the attention and impulsivity problems therefore entering them into a vicious cycle. The researchers suggest it might be the quick-fire nature of the games themselves which requires the user to make lots of rapid decisions that may have an impact on this. Therefore, it may be worth considering the types of games our children are playing if they do have ADHD or OCD tendencies. The same relationship seems to apply between technology and depression and anxiety. Technology doesn’t necessarily cause them but it does seem to amplify them significantly if someone is already showing those tendencies.

We know that getting enough sleep is hugely important to our general health and well-being. Hale and Guan in 2015 did a literature review of 67 studies of which 90% found sleep was adversely affected by screens (in Brooks and Lasser, 2018, p38). Particular villains in this case is the blue light emitted by tablets and smartphones which decreases Melatonin production - Melatonin helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle. Dworak et al. (2007) found that video games also increase the central nervous system activity which can affect sleep . Further to that there’s the attraction of screens, particularly YouTube or binge watching on Netflix and social media that can stop us from going to bed on time. Therefore, they recommend no blue light emitting devices or video games 1 hour before bed. Interestingly that seems to be the same for adults and children over 5.

One of the more publicised areas that screen time takes away from is physical activity and has been cited as a contributing factor in rising levels of obesity and mental health issues. It’s worth pointing out that Active screen time (exercise games for Switch etc.) could actually be beneficial. My children love Just Dance and that’s a really fun one to do as a family. This is a good example of how knowing the different types of screen time can be helpful.

Screen time also displaces unstructured play which studies have found to be extremely important in developing social skills but also self-regulation. Research in 2000 concluded that children have less play and poorer self-regulation compared to children 60 years ago. It’s worth noting that this was published before smartphones so phones and tablets seem to have compounded a pattern that was already emerging. Professor Grey, a psychologist at Boston University argues that toys and games allow for less imagination these days. He argues that children need to make up stories, create dialogue in their heads; he calls this private speech, and he found that modern games and toys made this less likely to happen. So as we try and claim back screen time it might be worth trying to put aside time for unstructured play.

Having said that it’s important not to dismiss modern play as well as often it is just different for example Granic et al 2014 found that some video games helped develop cooperative behaviours and perseverance.

Focused attention can suffer, particularly with heavy video game use as we’re often making very quick decisions which is compounded when we are flitting between texting or emailing, watching TV, and playing the game. Neuroscience has shown that we can't actually multi-task but we do toggle very quickly between tasks. If we’re doing this constantly it can have an effect on our ability to retain focus for longer periods of time and ultimately that can have an impact on our well-being and productivity.

Brooks and Lasser (2018) argue that perhaps the biggest impact screen time is having is on our social connectedness which seems ironic seeing as though we’re more connected than ever before through online games, social media and email etc. However, they argue that we are social in a very real sense, when we have in-person interactions it activates reward systems which decreases cortisol levels (the hormone associated with stress) and increase oxytocin (the hormone associated with increased levels of happiness). Tech and screen time keep us jumping around and this negatively affects in-person interactions and thus our well being - we need uninterrupted time to develop meaningful relationships.