Richard Bermudes, MD, on discussing screen use and time at well care visits

Concerns about the impact of screen use on youth mental health continue to grow across the pediatric community. In this video interview, Richard A. Bermudes, MD, psychiatrist, chief medical officer at BrainsWay, and associate physician at the University of California Davis, stressed the importance of keeping the conversation grounded in the broader context of adolescent well-being.

“Speaking as a parent, and to give a little more context, I trained in family medicine and have done well care visits as a general psychiatrist as well. It’s a complicated world, and we are all worried about the effects of social media and screens on ourselves, and we are especially worried about kids. I think it has to be part of the conversation at well care visits,” Bermudes said.

He noted that discussions about screens should not replace the fundamental questions providers already ask during well care visits. “Much of what we discuss at well care visits is around questions such as: 'Do you have any concerns about mood or anxiety? Do you have any concerns about how your child or adolescent is functioning socially? How are they achieving in school or outside of school? Are they engaged in hobbies?' That same conversation hopefully was happening before screens, and it should continue now with screens included.”

Bermudes also cautioned against an overemphasis on total time spent online. “The other interesting point from the study is that we got really hooked on total time. I can remember my parents having conversations about whether to have a television in the house. This is almost like the new generation’s version of that debate; can we function without screens? I don’t think we can eliminate them, it’s about how we are using them.”

His comments echo findings from a recent JAMA study, which highlighted that patterns of addictive use—rather than screen time alone—were most strongly tied to risks of suicidal ideation, suicidal behaviors, and internalizing or externalizing symptoms in youth. The study noted that while nearly one-third of children showed increasing addictive use of social media or mobile phones by age 11, while baseline screen time totals were not predictive of outcomes.

“We know that if we are using them, kids and adolescents may be socializing with friends and family across the United States. This happened during COVID, and it continues now. My kids are in college, and they still connect with their high school friends online at a certain cadence. Do I think that’s unhealthy? No. They get something out of it. But we need to really understand why our kids and adolescents are spending time online, whether dysfunction results from it, and whether they are experiencing impairment.”

Reference:

Ebert M. Addictive screen use tied to youth mental health risks. Contemporary Pediatrics. June 19, 2025. Accessed September 2, 2025. https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/addictive-screen-use-tied-to-youth-mental-health-risks