Developmental health changes following youth and adolescent excessive electronic media exposure: a systematic review

Abstract

Screen use, the use of a digital media device for entertainment purposes, has been increasing exponentially throughout the world over the last ten years. As children are being exposed to screens at younger ages, studies are being conducted to determine if and how these screens act as a benefit or detriment to development. The goal of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature regarding the link between excessive screen use on the development of children and adolescents worldwide. Specifically, this review examined how screens affect multiple aspects of development, including neurological development, social development, motor development, and language development. A search of relevant terms was conducted from three different databases, and articles published between 2014 and 2024 were included. Studies demonstrated that excessive screen use is correlated with poorer outcomes in various aspects of development, and these effects are found to be more significant in younger children. However, some articles mentioned positive outcomes of using specific types of media (i.e., cell phone use, television, videogames), while some articles mentioned that other types of media had less or no effect on a developmental outcome than another type of media. This trend was seen regardless of the geographical location of the study. There is a need for future studies to determine exactly how different types of screen use affect development in children, both to determine how screen use can benefit the health of children, and to for more specific clinical guidelines regarding screen time in youth.