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What if the holidays were the perfect time to get away from bad habits? According to a new study, keeping your children a little further away from screens in particular could help them gain mental comfort. Should you give it a try?
More outings, beach, rest… and a little less screen time? What if this was the ideal cocktail to make your children feel a little better in their shoes in a few days? This is in any case the finding of a new Danish study that checked what happened when children and teenagers reduced their screen consumption for at least 2 weeks.
3 hours of recreational screen time per week for greater well-being
The study1 conducted by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson of the University of Denmark assessed 181 participants aged 4 to 17 from 89 families. Half of the participants were asked to limit their free screen time to a maximum of three hours per week for two weeks, while the rest of the participants were asked to maintain their usual screen media habits. This restricted screen time did not include essential uses such as schoolwork, just recreational activities.
After the trial period, children in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement in their behavior and emotional well-being. Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)2researchers observed a reduction in behavior problems from “borderline” to “normal” within two weeks.
Social life bounces back
Significant improvements were observed in emotional and social problems, as well as prosocial behavior. For the researchers, this indicates that reducing screen time can help children manage their emotions and improve social interactions.
“This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial found that short-term reductions in leisure-time screen use within families had a positive effect on children’s and adolescents’ psychological symptoms, including reducing internalizing behavior problems and improving prosocial behavior. Further research is needed to confirm whether these effects are sustained in the long term.”they write in the study published in the journal Jama Network.
Less screen time means more time with others
The study did not explain the origin of this positive impact, but the researchers believe it could be due to the fact that participants have more time for social interactions.We can only speculate about the mechanisms underlying the positive effects of limiting screen media use on children’s mental health and adolescents. When children and adolescents spend a large portion of their free time using screen-based media devices, they necessarily reduce their face-to-face social engagement with friends, peers and family members.”the researchers added.
What if you took advantage of the holidays to put away the screens a little more?
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