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For years weve been told that oursmartphones spell only our inevitable doom.
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She was baffled by the hand-wringing trickling through the scientific literature on screen time.
She felt unscathed by the devices shed used throughout her teenage years.
And she couldnt help noticing the demographic of many of the hand-wringers.
Most of those researchers were above a certain age, she says.
So what are parentsand anyone else worried about the negative effects of screen timesupposed to do?
The contradicting research refuses to yield concrete answers and the data are harder to untangle than a thousand earbuds.
All of these can independently influence mental health, so isolating the potential effects ofjustdigital exposure time is tricky.
The designs of the studies can also be problematic.
At each fork, the results of the prior decision guide the way.
Orbens paper found more than 600 million paths that theU.K.
The issue partly boils down to the way researchers analyze their results.
They benefit from reporting an impressively smallp-valuea statistic measuring the probability of obtaining the same outcome by chance.
Orbens study relies on a tool called the percent or proportion variance explained (PVE).
Orben and Przybylski did find that screen time negatively affected adolescent well-being, but the PVE was 0.24 percent.
Being bullied was worse (4.5 percent).
Sure, your genetics could play a role, but those cant be altered.
The data iniGenoffer that comparison, which is a much better measure, she says.
Percent variance does matter.
Even if a specific effect is small, it could still be an effect worth talking about.
The key is whether any given variabletoo much screen time, eating potatoes, being bulliedhas a plausible explanation.
And one might seem more plausible than the other.
Still, the research doesnt tell us that screen timecauseswidespread detrimental health effects for an entire population.
And thats really the only data set most of us have access to.
The frustrating answer is that well need more research to really understand whats happening here, if anything.
The correlation could exist because the users were already depressed and turned to social media for a pick-me-up.
Once we ask the correct research questions, she says, the risks of screen time will emerge clearly.
For older children, the AAP suggests consistent limits but does not specify the total hours.
Twenge suggests two hours but acknowledges the boundaries are still vague.
You could make a case for three or four hours if you wanted to, she says.
Whether or not those rules are sufficientor even necessaryfor each and every person remains to be proven.
