Publication:

The impact of social media and excessive screen time on the mental well-being and sleep patterns of school-aged children: a cross-sectional multi-stage cluster study

Background The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of excessive screen time and social media use, and to evaluate their association with mental well-being and sleep patterns among school-aged children.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 672 children aged 8–14 years, selected through multistage random sampling from government and private schools in South India over a four-month period (June to Sep 2024). A pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used to collect data and patterns of screen-based device use and social media use. Mental well-being was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and sleep patterns using the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Data were analysed using SPSS 26.0 version.

Results The mean age of participants was 11.2±1.8 years (51.8% boys). High screen time (>4 h/day) was reported in 212 children (31.5%), and 486 (72.3%) were active social media users, YouTube (89.1%) and WhatsApp (62.3%). Mean SDQ was (9.8±4.2, 13.6±5.1, and 18.9±6.3 respectively; p<0.001), and the proportion with abnormal SDQ scores (≥20) increased from 6.3% to 38.7% (p<0.001). Sleep duration declined from 9.4±0.8 to 7.3±1.1 hours/night (p<0.001), while CSHQ total scores rose from 38.2±5.6 to 52.3±7.9 (p<0.001) across the same groups. Screen time correlated positively with SDQ score (r=0.42, p<0.001) and CSHQ score (r=0.51, p<0.001), and negatively with sleep duration (r=−0.46, p<0.001).

Conclusions Excessive screen time and social media use are significantly and independently associated with poorer psychological well-being and disturbed sleep among school-aged children. Structured screen-time guidance, parental mediation, and school-based digital wellness programmes are warranted.