{"id":284648,"date":"2021-06-26T16:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/remember-that-research-linking-more-screen-time-to-depression-not-true\/"},"modified":"2021-06-26T16:00:33","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T13:00:33","slug":"remember-that-research-linking-more-screen-time-to-depression-not-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/remember-that-research-linking-more-screen-time-to-depression-not-true\/","title":{"rendered":"#Remember that research linking more screen time to depression? Not true"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2622e216fbf\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2622e216fbf\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/remember-that-research-linking-more-screen-time-to-depression-not-true\/#Know_thyself_%E2%80%93_easier_said_than_done\" >Know thyself \u2013 easier said than done<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/remember-that-research-linking-more-screen-time-to-depression-not-true\/#From_believer_to_skeptic\" >From believer to skeptic<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/remember-that-research-linking-more-screen-time-to-depression-not-true\/#Getting_at_the_truth\" >Getting at the truth<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Remember that research linking more screen time to depression? Not true<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>Even a casual follower of the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> over the last few years is likely to have encountered stories about research showing that digital technologies like <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> and smartphones are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2017\/09\/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation\/534198\/\">harming young people\u2019s mental health<\/a>. Rates of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/abn0000410\">depression<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/data\/nvsr\/nvsr69\/NVSR-69-11-508.pdf\">suicide<\/a> among young people have risen steadily since the mid-2000s, around the time that the first smartphones and social media platforms were being released. These technologies have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2019\/09\/09\/us-generations-technology-use\/\">become ubiquitous<\/a>, and young people\u2019s distress has continued to increase since then.<\/p>\n<p>Many articles in the popular and academic press assert that digital <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> is to blame. Some experts, including those recently featured in stories by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/to-be-young-and-pessimistic-in-america-11621019488\">major<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/05\/18\/990234501\/facebook-calls-links-to-depression-inconclusive-these-researchers-disagree\">news<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/16\/health\/covid-kids-tech-use.html\">outlets<\/a>, state that excessive use of digital technology is clearly linked to psychological distress in young people. To deny this connection, according to a prominent proponent of the link, is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/05\/18\/990234501\/facebook-calls-links-to-depression-inconclusive-these-researchers-disagree\">akin to denying the link between human activity and climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to protect young people from the harms of digital tech, some politicians have introduced legislation that would, among other things, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/recode\/2019\/7\/31\/20748732\/josh-hawley-smart-act-social-media-addiction\">automatically limit<\/a> users\u2019 time spent on a social media platform to 30 minutes a day. If the evidence is so definitive that digital technology is harming America\u2019s youth in such substantial ways, then reducing young people\u2019s use of these devices could be one of the most important public health interventions in American history.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s just one problem: The evidence for a link between time spent using technology and mental health is fatally flawed.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Know_thyself_%E2%80%93_easier_said_than_done\"><\/span>Know thyself \u2013 easier said than done<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Absent from the discussion about the putative harms of digital tech is the fact that practically all academic studies in this area <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1089\/cyber.2014.0418\">have used highly flawed self-report measures<\/a>. These measures typically ask people to give their best guesses about how often they used digital technologies over the past week or month or even year. The problem is that people are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41562-021-01117-5\">terrible at estimating their digital technology use<\/a>, and there\u2019s evidence that people who are psychologically distressed <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2050157920902830\">are even worse at it<\/a>. This is understandable because it\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/109821400102200202\">very hard to pay attention to and accurately recall<\/a> something that you do frequently and habitually.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers have recently begun to expose the discrepancy between self-reported and actual technology use, including for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3313831.3376435\">Facebook<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1111\/jcc4.12021\">smartphones,<\/a> and the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/19312458.2015.1118446\">internet<\/a>. My colleagues and I carried out a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41562-021-01117-5\">systematic review and meta-analysis<\/a> of discrepancies between actual and self-reported digital media use and found that self-reported use is rarely an accurate reflection of actual use.<\/p>\n<p>This has enormous implications. Although measurement isn\u2019t a sexy topic, it forms the foundation of scientific research. Simply put, to make conclusions \u2013 and subsequent recommendations \u2013 about something you\u2019re studying, you must ensure you\u2019re measuring the thing you\u2019re intending to measure. If your measures are defective, then your data is untrustworthy. And if the measures are more inaccurate for certain people \u2013 like young people or those with depression \u2013 then the data is even more untrustworthy. This is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/tmb0000005\">the case for the majority of research<\/a> into the effects of technology use over the past 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine that everything known about the COVID-19 pandemic was based on people giving their best guesses about whether they have the virus, instead of highly reliable medical tests. Now imagine that people who actually have the virus are more likely to misdiagnose themselves. The consequences of relying on this unreliable measure would be far-reaching. The health effects of the virus, how it\u2019s spreading, how to combat it \u2013 practically every bit of information gathered about the virus would be tainted. And the resources expended based on this flawed information would be largely wasted.<\/p>\n<p>The uncomfortable truth is that shoddy measurement, as well as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/tmb0000005\">other methodological issues<\/a> including inconsistent ways of conceiving of different types of digital tech use and research design that falls short of establishing a causal connection, is widespread. This means that the putative link between digital technology and psychological distress remains inconclusive.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\">\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/407549\/original\/file-20210621-30-1jquhzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A hand holds a smart phone open to a screen labeled \" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/407549\/original\/file-20210621-30-1jquhzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/407549\/original\/file-20210621-30-1jquhzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A hand holds a smart phone open to a screen labeled \" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Ftech%2F2021%2F06%2F26%2Fresearch-linking-screen-time-to-depression-not-true-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Social media has a lot to answer for, but in terms of time spent on them, the mental health of young people might not belong on the list. David Stewart\/Flickr, CC BY\" data-title=\"Share Social media has a lot to answer for, but in terms of time spent on them, the mental health of young people might not belong on the list. David Stewart\/Flickr, CC BY on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Social media has a lot to answer for, but in terms of time spent on them, the mental health of young people might not belong on the list. David Stewart\/Flickr, CC BY on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Social media has a lot to answer for, but in terms of time spent on them, the mental health of young people might not belong on the list. David Stewart\/Flickr, CC BY<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption><span class=\"caption\"\/><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In my own research as a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=bg73ehMAAAAJ&amp;hl=en\">doctoral student in social work<\/a>, I found that the link between digital technology use and mental health was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2050157920902830\">stronger when self-report measures were used<\/a> than when objective measures were used. An example of an objective measure is <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le\u2019s \u201cScreen Time\u201d application, which automatically tracks device use. And when I used these objective measures to track digital technology use among young adults over time, I found that increased use was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jad.2021.04.008\">not associated with increased depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts<\/a>. In fact, those who used their smartphones more frequently reported lower levels of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_believer_to_skeptic\"><\/span>From believer to skeptic<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>That the link between digital tech use and psychological distress is inconclusive would have come as a big surprise to me five years ago. I was shocked by the levels of depression and thoughts of suicide among the students I treated when I worked as a mental health therapist at a college counseling center. I, like most people, accepted the conventional narrative that all these smartphones and social media were harming young people.<\/p>\n<p>Wanting to investigate this further, I left clinical practice for a Ph.D. program so I could research why these technologies were harmful and what could be done to prevent these harms. As I dove into the scientific literature and conducted studies of my own, I came to realize that the link between digital technology and well-being was much more convoluted than the typical narrative portrayed by popular media. The scientific literature was a mess of contradiction: Some studies found harmful effects, others found beneficial effects and still others found no effects. The reasons for this inconsistency are many, but flawed measurement is at the top of the list.<\/p>\n<p>This is unfortunate, not just because it represents a huge waste of time and resources, or because the narrative that these technologies are harmful to young people has been widely popularized and it\u2019s hard to get the cat back in the bag, but also because it forces me to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/05\/18\/990234501\/facebook-calls-links-to-depression-inconclusive-these-researchers-disagree\">agree with Mark Zuckerberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Getting_at_the_truth\"><\/span>Getting at the truth<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now, this doesn\u2019t mean that any amount or kind of digital technology use is fine. It\u2019s fairly clear that certain aspects, such as cyber-victimization and exposure to harmful online content, can be damaging to young people. But simply taking tech away from them may not fix the problem, and some researchers suggest it may actually do <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.15585\/mmwr.mm6715a4\">more harm than good<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Whether, how and for whom digital tech use is harmful is likely much more complicated than the picture often presented in popular media. However, the reality is likely to remain unclear until more reliable evidence comes in.<!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/craig-j-r-sewall-1238152\">Craig J.R. Sewall<\/a>, Postdoctoral Scholar of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-pittsburgh-854\">University of Pittsburgh<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/flawed-data-led-to-findings-of-a-connection-between-time-spent-on-devices-and-mental-health-problems-new-research-162585\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/research-linking-screen-time-to-depression-not-true-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Remember that research linking more screen time to depression? Not true&#8221; Even a casual follower of the news over the last few years is likely to have encountered stories about research showing that digital technologies like social media and smartphones are harming young people\u2019s mental health. Rates of depression and suicide among young people have&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":284649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/06\/Phone-sad-time-spent-on-devices-girl-1848477_1920.jpg&signature=93e4083465213b33b3bb9677b91b1085","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}