More Evidence on the Link Between Screens & Depression in Adolescence
New JAMA study shows that childhood screen time contributes to stress & depression in teen years
Those of you who listen to the ScreenStrong Families podcast are probably more than familiar with the work and wisdom of Dr. Adriana Stacey. Just the other week, she was on the show discussing why parents are right to be concerned about social media.
Dr. Stacey is not just an popular podcast guest for us; she is a psychiatrist with decades of experience, a member of our Medical Advisory Board, and integral to just about everything we do, from giving of her time and expertise to helping to develop our Kids Brains & Screens curriculum to speaking with parents and schools across the on the effects of toxic screens on teen mental health. So when I saw this study published in the Journal of American Medical Association, I knew I had to reach out to Dr. Stacey for her perspective.
The study is titled “Childhood Lifestyle Behaviors and Mental Health Symptoms in Adolescence,” and according to Dr. Stacey, it only provides further evidence of what she sees in her practice every day: that excessive screen time and poor mental health often go hand-in-hand.
The only question this study leaves unanswered is how many studies need to be published before parents and schools stand up and do what’s right?
It’s a typical Tuesday morning at my psychiatry clinic, where I evaluate and treat kids and teenagers for a variety of mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, ADHD, and eating disorders. On this particular Tuesday, a 14-year-old girl— let’s call her “Kate”—and her mom came in for a new patient evaluation. Kate has been struggling lately with intense levels of perceived stress, leading to physical symptoms, including eczema and a near-constant upset stomach.
More recently, she has started to exhibit symptoms of depression: low mood; trouble waking up in the morning; trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night; low energy; poor motivation and declining grades; loss of interest in the extracurriculars—like dance— that she used to love. Her parents report that instead of schoolwork and socializing at dance practice, she has been spending more and more time “vegging out and scrolling her phone.”
As part of my typical new patient questionnaire, we review her screen time, both now and throughout her childhood. As is typical of most kids I meet in 2025, she started using a tablet for entertainment before she could talk. She has had a smartphone since she was in 5th grade when she received one as a 10th birthday present. As time has progressed, her use has consistently increased, as has her stress and depression.
I see patients like Kate all the time. As a board-certified psychiatrist who has been working for two decades, it is no surprise to me that depressed adolescents often have elevated screen time throughout childhood. In fact, I have come to expect it, and I have been working to educate the American public about this fact for almost a decade.
While at one time, the evidence of this link may have been anecdotal, we now have plenty of scientific evidence and research that details the effects of screen time and mental health, including the most recent study coming out of Finland, published in JAMA just a few weeks ago.
This particular study used baseline data from 2007-2009 and then follow-up data from 8 years later. Although a relatively small sample size, the study’s long-term approach makes up for this limitation, and the results and conclusions reiterate what I see in my psychiatry clinic every day—screen time in childhood is not a contributor to good mental health. In fact, it is the opposite.
In this study, total screen time, computer use, and mobile device use (such as smartphones and tablets) were positively associated with a perceived stress score. In other words, more screens = more stress. In addition, total screen time and mobile device use were positively associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms.
Of note, the average daily use of screen time for the study participants was 4.7 hours per day, which is significantly lower than the daily use of the current American teenager, which is hovering around 9 hours a day. It is possible that had this study been conducted in current-day America and not Finland, we would see an even stronger correlation.
This study also provides evidence that adolescents who had lower total physical activity levels and more total screen time or mobile device use from childhood to adolescence had the highest levels of perceived stress and depressive symptoms. The magnitude of associations between total screen time and mobile device use with depressive symptoms was considered moderate, which is considered a big deal in the medical community—and should be a big deal to parents, too!
Other important takeaways from this study:
Reducing screen time may be more important in promoting mental health than increasing physical activity. Although we know that physical activity is important for physical and mental health, it is possibly more beneficial to focus on reducing screen time before focusing on increasing physical activity.
There are consistent and independent direct associations between cumulative total screen time and mobile device use from childhood to adolescence with mental health symptoms in adolescence.
Translation: Screen time—especially screen time that involves a smartphone—as a kid can make your teenager stressed and depressed. The negative effects of screen time stay with your child as they grow. This aligns with what we already know about the negative effects of screen time on brain development.
Adolescents more exposed to screen time, particularly mobile device use from childhood to adolescence, had higher perceived stress and depressive symptoms independent of their levels of physical activity.
Translation: Active kids are just as much at risk for the negative effects of screen time as sedentary kids.
Although we know that sedentary behavior in young people is not good for their health, and screen time leads to sedentary behavior, screen time as a mode of sedentary behavior may be more detrimental to mental health than total sedentary time.
Translation: Sedentary screen time is worse than other types of sedentary time.
Higher levels of screen time and social media use have been related to risk factors and underlying psychosocial mechanisms for mental health symptoms, underscoring screen time as a modifiable risk factor for mental health problems.
Translation: Simply removing screen time can reduce the risk of mental health problems.
After reading this study, my only remaining question is, why do we keep allowing our children access to these screens and at such excessive amounts?
Screen time is a serious and proven risk factor for depression and stress. More than that, it’s not a requirement for childhood. In fact, screen time is actually depriving our children of a real childhood. How much more evidence do we need before we take these devices from our kids’ hands and push them back out into the real world, where they can move their bodies and make real, meaningful social connections?
If you have been inspired to rethink screens in your home—and I sincerely hope you have—ScreenStrong has lots of free resources that can help. One of the best places to start is the free ScreenStrong Connect group. For a limited time, you’ll get access to the 7-Day Reset. Seven days might be all it takes to improve your teen's mental health and your family’s overall connection.
ScreenStrong also has the innovative Kids’ Brains & Screens series—the only books designed to explain the harmful effects of screens to kids ages 10-18. Their full curriculum is available for purchase now, and the new Home Edition will be coming out in just a few weeks, so stay tuned!
ScreenStrong Resources
Dr. Adriana Stacey is a general psychiatrist. Her work is mostly concentrated on teens and college students. She has a specific interest in how smartphones affect the mental health of children. Dr. Stacey’s insights in regard to technology use have been featured in the Washington Post and on the Today Show. Dr. Stacey has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Alabama and an M.D. from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She completed her psychiatry training at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Stacey enjoys speaking to groups of kids/teens, parents, teachers, and healthcare providers. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with her husband and four children.
ScreenStrong has created what every family needs—education and the community—to skip toxic screens through adolescence so teens can reach their full potential. Visit here for our popular Kids’ Brains & Screens series and here for our Phone-Free Schools Guide, and visit ScreenStrong.org to learn more and join the community that is saving childhood.
Thank you for this!
Excellent article and body of research.