A narrative review of screen time and wellbeing among adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for the future

• Main Authors: LUA, Verity Yu Qing, CHUA, Terence B. K., CHIA, Michael Y. H.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
• Subjects: adolescents; screen time; wellbeing; COVID-19; Applied Behavior Analysis; Communication Technology and New Media; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3751; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5009/viewcontent/sports_11_00038_v2_pvoa_cc_by.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of many. In particular, during the height of the pandemic, many experienced lockdowns, which in turn increased screen time drastically. While the pandemic has been declared an endemic and most activities have been reinstated, there appears to still be elevated screen time among adolescents due to poor habits formed during the pandemic lockdowns. This paper explores the factors by which screen time affects well-being among adolescents and how the pandemic may have influenced some of these factors. For example, beyond having greater screen time, many adolescents have also reduced their physical activities and picked up poor sleeping habits. These findings highlight the importance of having integrated activity guidelines that go beyond limiting adolescents’ daily screen time. It is important to affirm that beyond ensuring that adolescents limit their daily screen time, they are also meeting physical activity and sleep guidelines so that they achieve a holistic sense of wellbeing.