ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
The Conceptual and Methodological Mayhem of "Screen Time".
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06402253 (Social Media Artistic tRaining in Teenagers), which is not on this map. Cited by 89 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Social Media Artistic tRaining in Teenagers
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Interventions to Reduce Screen Time in Preschool-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Early Childhood Screen Use Contexts and Cognitive and Psychosocial Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Examining the relationship between language development, executive function, and screen time: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Association of Screen Time With Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Children 12 Years or Younger: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Measurement of screen time among young children aged 0-6 years: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- The Impact of Sleep Loss on Screen Time in Children: Secondary Analyses of a Randomised Crossover Trial Using Objective Measures of Screen Time.Pediatric obesity · 2025Trial
- Causal effects of social media use on self-esteem, mindfulness, sleep and emotional well-being: a social media restriction study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Screen Media Use and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Alliance With an Unguided Smartphone App: Validation of the Digital Working Alliance Inventory.Assessment · 2022Trial
- Objective Smartphone Screen Time Monitoring Among Caregivers of Preschool-Aged Children: Reliability Study of Monitoring Duration.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Comparison of Capturing Children's Technology Use Using Wearable Camera and Fixed Room Video: Experimental Laboratory Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2026Article
- Entertainment Sedentary Time and Subjective Well-Being in College Students: A Moderation Model of Perceived Time Poverty.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Screen Use and Emotional, Behavioral, and Social Development in Children.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Screen Exposure and Childhood Adiposity in Socially Vulnerable Settings: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2026Article
- A computational model of reward learning and habits on social media.Nature communications · 2026Article
- High Screen Exposure and Its Association With Physical and Mental Well-Being Among School-Going Children and Adolescents in Bangladesh: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Parental neglect and short video addiction among college students: a moderated mediation model.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Bridging Early Adolescents' Online and In-Person Experiences: Qualitative Explorations of Emotional and Relational Well-Being in the Post-COVID-19 Era.Journal of adolescence · 2026Article
- The influence of different processing rules on wearable camera data estimates of habitual screen time in children.Journal of activity, sedentary and sleep behaviors · 2026Article
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Debates concerning the impacts of screen time are widespread. Existing research presents mixed findings, and lacks longitudinal evidence for any causal or long-term effects. We present a critical account of the current shortcomings of the screen time literature. These include poor conceptualisation, the use of non-standardised measures that are predominantly self-report, and issues with measuring screen time over time and context. Based on these issues, we make a series of recommendations as a basis for furthering academic and public debate. These include drawing on a user-focused approach in order to seek the various affordances gained from "screen use". Within this, we can better understand the way in which these vary across time and context, and make distinction between objective measures of "screen time" compared to those more subjective experiences of uses or affordances, and the differential impacts these may bring.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.