If you’ve been concerned about the amount of screen time your teens might be consuming, you’ve actually got some cause. According to a new study, teens who spent more time on their devices were less happy than those who invested more time in other non-screen related activities, like sports, and face-to-face interaction.
Related: Addicted to your iPhone? Try this one simple trick.
While this probably does not come as a surprise to most parents, it is certainly a helpful reminder that if you feel as though your teen is too connected to their online lives, whether it’s texting, social media, or even computer games, setting limits on their usage could be paramount for their mental health.
Interestingly, teens with absolutely no screen time use weren’t necessarily happier. Researchers found that around an hour a day of screen time was the sweet spot. Once the time started to increase beyond an hour, however, so did the levels of unhappiness.
Related: Why teens are taking social media breaks. And we should too.
The researchers’ advice: teens should really spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and they should try to increase the amount of face-to-face interaction and exercise, both of which are reliably linked to increased happiness.
Photo by ANDRIK LANGFIELD PETRIDES on Unsplash
