Modest effects of daily screen time found on youth sleep

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics has reported later sleep onset in youths with daily screen time, though minimal impact was reported from short-term daily fluctuations in screen time.¹

Sleep timing, quality, and duration are vital for physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development in youth. However, data have indicated trends of shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality among this population vs prior generations.² Additionally, these trends correlate with increased digital screen use in daily life.¹

“By examining short-term daily associations, within-person study designs provide a unique opportunity to examine how day-to-day or evening-to-evening variations in screen use relate to subsequent sleep outcomes and inform the interpretation of temporally proximal mechanisms linking screen time and sleep,” wrote investigators.

Assessing youth sleep

The meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the link between in-person daily screen use and sleep in youth. Relevant literature was obtained through searches of the Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and Scopus databases through August 22, 2025.

Studies with a population aged 3 to 25 years assessing any sleep aspect, screen time, and interactions between daily screen time and sleep were included in the analysis. Title and abstract screening were completed using ASReview, a machine learning software that orders records by relevance.

Two independent reviewers used Covidence to screen full texts, with the lead author resolving discrepancies. Afterward, a single reviewer performed data extraction for participant characteristics, study characteristics, sleep assessment, and screen time assessments.

Participant characteristics and link between screen use and sleep

There were 4562 patients across 25 studies included in the analysis, 55% of whom were female, 69% adolescents, 18% emerging adults, and 13% children. Of studies, 14 were conducted in the United States, 3 in China, 2 in Australia, and 2 in the Netherlands. The Czech Republic, New Zealand, Switzerland, and United Kingdom each had 1 study.

Types of screen time included smartphone use which was assessed in 9 studies, video gaming in 8, overall screen time in 8, watching videos or television in 7, video chatting in 6, social media in 6, browsing the internet in 3, and doing work on a screen in 3. Most studies assessed screen time in the evening before bed or sleep onset.

A small yet significant positive within-person correlation was reported between screen time and sleep onset, at r = 0.079. However, significant correlations were not reported for screen time and total screen time, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency, and wake after sleep. Significant heterogeneity was reported across studies.

Screen timing and implications

The timing of the screen time assessment was found to influence subjective sleep quality, including a significantly stronger negative correlation when assessed after bedtime or going to sleep vs at the daily level and in the evening before bedtime, at r = −0.092, r = −0.026, and r = −0.005, respectively. No other significant subgroup differences were identified.

These results indicated a small but significant impact of daily screen time on later sleep onset in children and youths. However, between-person analyses have indicated adverse association between screen time and sleep.

“While long-term behavioral patterns may link higher screen time with poorer subjective sleep quality and efficiency, day-to-day fluctuations in screen use appear to have only modest effects on sleep in youth,” wrote investigators.

References

1. Bourke M, Maddren CI, Sippel F, Thomas G. Within-person association between daily screen use and sleep in youth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatr. Published online March 2, 2026. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.6490
2. Matricciani L, Olds T, Petkov J. In search of lost sleep: secular trends in the sleep time of school-aged children and adolescents. Sleep Med Rev. 2012;16(3):203-211. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2011.03.005