New data from 2023 finds half of U.S. teens look at TVs, computers or smartphones for four or more hours daily Rates were similar between girls and boys Higher rates of screen time were linked with higher rates of anxiety and depression among teenagers WEDNESDAY, Oct.
30, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Half of young Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 spend at least four hours each day on their smartphones, computers or televisions, a new survey shows. "As technology has become more integrated into teenagers’ lives, the time spent in front of screens has continued to rise in the United States," noted a team of researchers from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All of that screen time might not be great for teens' psyches: The research found that while about 27% of teens who had four or more hours per day of screen time said they'd had anxiety over the past two weeks, that was true for only 12.3% of teen with fewer hours spent looking at screens.
Self-reported depression levels were also much higher (about 26%) among teens who consumed four hours or more of screen time than those who didn't (9.5%). The new data comes from answers given by U.
S. teens to a federal survey conducted between mid-2021 and the end of 2023. The survey found little difference in screen use by gender -- just over 48% of boys watched TV or stared at their phones or computers for four or more hours per day, as did 52.
5% of girls. Screen time did seem to rise with age, however: While 45..