Smartphone screen time reduction improves mental health: a randomized controlled trial

Summary & key facts

In a randomized trial of 111 healthy university students, limiting smartphone screen time to 2 hours per day for three weeks led to small-to-medium improvements in depressive symptoms, stress, sleep quality, and overall well-being soon after the intervention. Effects were measured with standard questionnaires and appeared after three weeks, but smartphone use rose again and scores were closer to the starting level at the six-week follow-up. The authors report these results as evidence that reducing daily smartphone screen time can affect mental health, but the trial was short, not blinded, and included only healthy young adults.

Key facts:

• 111 healthy students (mean age 22.7 years; 70 females) were randomized: 58 to the ≤2 h/day screen-time intervention and 53 to a control group.
• Baseline average smartphone screen time across participants was 276 ± 115.1 minutes per day (about 4.6 hours/day).
• After the 3-week intervention, statistically significant improvements were seen versus control with small-to-medium effect sizes: depressive symptoms (partial η2 = 0.109), stress (partial η2 = 0.085), well-being (partial η2 = 0.053), and sl
• Specific group differences at post-intervention (t1) were: PHQ-9 depressive symptoms MD = 2.11 (95% CI [0.87, 3.36]); ISI sleep quality MD = 2.59 (95% CI [0.66, 4.51]); WHO-5 well-being MD = -1.54 (95% CI [-2.89, -0.18]); PSQ stress MD = 6.
• Screen time was tracked weekly with phone screenshots. The intervention recommended, but did not force, use of screen-time limiters, and adherence was monitored by uploaded screenshots.
• At the six-week follow-up after the intervention ended, participants’ screen time increased quickly and mental health measures moved back toward their baseline (pre-intervention) values.
• The trial was non-blinded, lasted only three weeks for the active intervention, and enrolled only healthy students aged 18–29, which limits how broadly the results can be applied; the authors state the findings suggest causality but acknowl

Topics

Digital Mental Health Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research

Categories

Social Sciences Sociology and Political Science

Tags

Geometry Internal medicine Mathematics Medicine Mental health Physical therapy Psychiatry Randomized controlled trial Reduction (mathematics)

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Sleep disorder Lack of energy or motivation Poor sleep Sadness or low mood