ArticlePloS one2021
Screen time and early adolescent mental health, academic, and social outcomes in 9- and 10- year old children: Utilizing the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development ℠ (ABCD) Study.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effects of physical exercise on cognitive function in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Dose-response relationship between daily screen time and the risk of low back pain among children and adolescents: a meta-analysis of 57831 participants.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions for Reducing Screen Time of Preschoolers: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of primary care & community healthPooled it
- Heterogeneities by Age and Sex in Associations Between Electronic Device Use Frequency and Comorbid Mental Health Symptoms: The Roles of Self-Efficacy and Social Support.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Young minds in distress: Exploring the global rise in youth mental health diagnoses.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- From school climate to brain development: What the ABCD study reveals about the educational context of adolescence.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Review
- Technology addiction as a predictor of visual problems in early adolescents: a multicentre case-control study.Primary health care research & development · 2026Article
- Digital Transition and Mental Health in School Settings: Does Handwriting Still Matter? A Multidisciplinary Perspective.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Adolescent Mental Health and Health-Related Behaviors Across Language-Based School Systems in South Tyrol, Italy.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Screen viewing time from age 1 to 8 years and subsequent academic performance and working memory.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2026Article
- Examining differences in parent-reported screen time from school to summer in children: an observational cohort study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Longitudinal associations between sedentary behavior types and mathematics ability mediated by externalizing and internalizing problems.NPJ science of learning · 2026Article
- What we have learned about adolescent mental health and where we are going after a decade with the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Review
- Identifying patterns and predictors of social health in adolescence using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.Developmental psychology · 2026Article
- Prospective associations between media parenting practices and adolescent video game use.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Effects of Adolescent Digital Media Use on Mental Health in Young Adulthood.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Smartphone acquisition as an inflection point in early adolescence digital exposome: relevance to mental health.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Adolescent screen time, anxiety/depression, and alcohol/e-cigarette use: evidence from the ABCD study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Longitudinal changes in screen time, sleep, and sports/exercise activity in early adolescence.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
18 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
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In a technology-driven society, screens are being used more than ever. The high rate of electronic media use among children and adolescents begs the question: is screen time harming our youth? The current study draws from a nationwide sample of 11,875 participants in the United States, aged 9 to 10 years, from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study®). We investigate relationships between screen time and mental health, behavioral problems, academic performance, sleep habits, and peer relationships by conducting a series of correlation and regression analyses, controlling for SES and race/ethnicity. We find that more screen time is moderately associated with worse mental health, increased behavioral problems, decreased academic performance, and poorer sleep, but heightened quality of peer relationships. However, effect sizes associated with screen time and the various outcomes were modest; SES was more strongly associated with each outcome measure. Our analyses do not establish causality and the small effect sizes observed suggest that increased screen time is unlikely to be directly harmful to 9-and-10-year-old children.
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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.