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Teens aren’t negatively impacted by screen use before bed, says study
August 19, 2025
With smartphones becoming more and more integrated with nearly every facet of our lives, there’s a concern that people — especially young children and teens — are getting too much screen time. All that staring at glowing rectangles is likely bad for them, right?
According toa new studyby Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski of the prestigious Oxford University, it’s not as bad as we might assume. The pair’s findings show that teenagers who engage in screen time before bed aren’t negatively impacted by doing so.
This runs contrary to whatmany parents likely believe. It’s a fairly common thought that using smartphones in bed or staring at a computer screen right before you go to sleep isbad for you.
Here are the study’s own words on the topic:
Orben and Przybylski specially selected their data from three different studies on the topic which involved 17,000 teenagers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States. Unlike many other studies on the topic, the pair only used data from research involving time-use-diaries. In other words, studies in which random people are selected and given a questionnaire about their screen habits weren’t utilized, as Orben and Przybylski think these are inherently flawed.
Their opinions on the matter are explained in the study:
Rather than trust the teens to self-report their findings after the fact, Orben and Przybylski only trusted data from studies where teens were required to fill out diaries in real-time as they used their phones, tablets, computers, etc. Even with this specially-selected data from thousands of teens, the pair found no cause for concern.
It should be noted that “no cause for concern” is definitively different from “good” or “healthy.” Just because something doesn’t have a negative effect doesn’t mean it’s then inherently positive. Nighttime screen use might not be harming anyone, but reading a book, engaging in conversation, or listening to music might still be better pre-bedtime activities.
NEXT:Don’t lose sleep worrying about blue light
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