Short answer: yes. Longer answer: yes, but there is a lot of nuance involved.

There is plenty of evidence to prove that there is a link between time spent looking at a screen and negative physical and psychological impact this behavior has on us. However, the results of the research on this topic seem to be wrapped in a shadow of vagueness, which is easily exploitable by people with sensationalistic intent.

A note of critique

Before discussing the exact results of scientific research, it is important to note that most of the studies on the topic of screen time rely on self-reported times which tend to be inaccurate, and large-scale datasets interpreted with a lot of analytical flexibility. This problem with the methodology makes the assessment of the reliability of such studies challenging. As many reviews have shown, we tend to be very bad at self-assessing the time we spend on our phones.

A big limitation of such studies is their lack of nuance. They often don’t address the medical histories of the subjects, the purpose behind screen use, stress and anxiety coping mechanisms, and the overall misunderstanding of how newer generations use technology – they are often focused on TV or computer screens, when portable tech such as mobile phones tend to be most impactful.

Unfortunately, a lot of researchers on the topic are focused on proving their starting hypothesis right (that there is a negative relationship between screen time and various negative consequences), and are therefore susceptible to confirmation bias. It is then important to observe such studies with an optimistic mind, but taken with a grain of salt.

Research studies

Overall, according to various research studies done on the topic of screen time, the negative consequences can be classified in three categories:

1. Psychological
2. Physiological
3. Cognitive

Psychological impact

Screen time has been associated with an increase in anxiety and depression. A 2018 study has determined that adolescents between ages of 14 and 17 using their phone for more than 4h/day are twice as likely to suffer from depression, anxiety or take medication for behavioral disorders.

This result was supported by another study from the same year, which reported that screen time is a “significant risk factor” due to being associated with moderate to severe depression after the screen time passes the 6h/day mark.

However, neither study can draw causative link between the two variables, as they do not account for other potential inputs such as stress coping strategies, medical histories of the subjects, physical activity, and other factors.

A review of 13 study reviews has reported that the evidence of connection between screen time and negative psychological impact is the strongest for depressive symptoms, while it’s weak for behavioral problems, anxiety, hyperactivity and others.

Physiological impact

Among all of the ambiguities of the ‘negative consequences of screen time’ debate, there is one common pattern, and that is the prolonged screen time’s impact on physical health.

One of the more notable effects is on sleep – the more time one spends on their devices, the more likely they are sacrificing sleep for it. A review from 2014 examined 67 studies (published from 1999 to 2014) and reported that an adverse link was observed in 90% of the studies. The adverse effect refers to “shortened duration and delayed timing”.

Our troubles don’t end there, unfortunately. A shorter time spent sleeping can make someone prone to other health problems, namely obesity. A meta-analysis from 2008 reviewed 696 studies on the link between lack of sleep and obesity in children and adults, and concluded that the data shows a consistent increased risk in weight gain and obesity.

The question remains though, how exact are these numbers? The 2014 review mentioned above notes a particular limitation that plagues a lot of studies on this topic, and that is the fact that a lot of young people often tend to use more than one screen at a time (i.e. watching TV and then scrolling through a phone to avoid advertisements or boring parts of the show).

Cognitive impact

A 2021 article in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction published a scoping review of 44 articles across 16 countries on the effects of excessive screen time on neurodevelopment, learning, memory and neurodegeneration. The article concludes that excessive screen time is associated to negative outcomes such slowed learning and acquisition, and an increased risk in cognitive decline. It also advises that more research should be done on the long-term effects on cognition and mental health.

An interesting 2010 study also caught my eye, that discusses the impact of the type of screen content infants and early children were exposed to. More specifically, a poorer executive functioning was observed in children from ages 1-4 if they were exposed to adult-targeted content for a long time, while such outcomes were not found for exposure to child-targeted programs.

Of course, I am not suggesting that adults should start watching cartoons. The reason for bringing up this study is to show that there is a lot of difference in the content that can be consumed, and how it affects the cognitive status of a subject. For one, a difference must be established between pleasure-seeking and truth-seeking content consumption (i.e. a fantasy versus documentary movie). The impact on cognitive abilities also depends on how challenging the material is for an individual. Such details are often overlooked in science reports.

Conclusion and what all this means for you

As I’ve presented in the analysis above, there are a lot of mixed results in the research reports on the topic of screen time impact on our mental and physical health. A lot of studies are able to draw strong association between excessive time spent in front of a screen and negative consequences that the subjects experienced, however, it is important to underscore that a most, if not all, such reports tend to leave a lot of wiggle room for interpretation. I am not suggesting that this is due to malicious intent, but simply an unfortunate consequence of inability to control for all factors that could produce an end result.

So, what does all of this mean for you? You’ve most likely clicked on this article to get a clear-cut answer for the question posed in the title. Unfortunately, I cannot give you a satisfying yes/no end-of-all-discussion type of answer. But I can provide a solid piece of advice.

I would like you to go to your Screen Time report on your phone, and see how much you spent looking at your screen. Then, I would like you to observe what you were doing for that time. Are the things you were spending the most time on important to you? Are they work-related? Or are they mostly time-wasters? These details matter. Overall, I would say that an average person should aim for around 3h per day.

TLDR; Spending a lot of time on your screen is bad if it’s taking away time from things that you deeply value, be it your hobby or relationships with others.