Digital screen exposure and child and adolescent health: A scoping review of a decade of evidence
Abstract
Background: The pervasiveness of digital screen exposure (DSE) among children and adolescents has raised concerns about its potential impact on health and wellbeing. This scoping review examined the characteristics, quality, and key findings of existing systematic reviews on the relationship between DSE and health outcomes in individuals aged 0–19 years.
Methods: A systematic search was conducted across seven databases to identify systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, published between 2015-2025.
Results: We identified 138 systematic reviews, reporting 2,749 unique primary studies, with only 103 (3.3%) conducted in Lower-Middle-Income (LMICs)/Low-Income Countries (LICs). The number of reviews more than doubled after 2020. Most reviews (n = 102, 73.9%) focused on a single outcome category, with mental health/risk behaviours (n = 71) and cognitive development (n = 51) being the most common, and physical outcomes being less frequently explored. Most reviews (n = 84, 60.9%) reported DSE as a risk factor for adverse health outcomes, several reported mixed associations (n = 40, 29%), five (3.6%) null association, two (1.4%) protective, seven (5%) inconclusive. Eight recent reviews were rated as high-quality. High-quality reviews highlighted: i) a harmful association between DSE and anxiety, depression, suicidality/self-harm, psychological and emotional wellbeing, risk behaviours, sleep, and cardiovascular risk; and ii) mixed associations with self-regulation, social wellbeing, and overweight/physical activity.
Conclusions: Further research is needed to inform practice and policy, with priorities including high-quality evidence syntheses with clearer construct definitions, coverage of underexplored outcomes and age-specific effects, increased primary studies in LMICs/LICs, and development of multidimensional metrics for DSE. Meanwhile, these findings support the need for preventive guidance and actions addressing DSE during childhood and adolescence.
Key messages: • A large body of evidence synthesis exists on digital screen exposure and youth health.
• Low quality of most existing systematic reviews, together with gaps in primary studies, highlight that more research is needed to better understand effects of digital screen exposure and youth health.
Related
- AI-enabled and comparator digital interventions for adolescent mental health (2020–2025): early detection, human–AI collaboration, and ethical governance—a PRISMA-ScR scoping review
- Beyond Screen Time: A Scoping Review of Screen Exposure and Early Childhood Development.
- A Possible Social Support Paradox in Adolescent Digital Risk: Online Hate Exposure, Cyberviolence Acceptance, and Divergent Peer–Family Contexts
- Longitudinal patterns of digital parenting restrictions and adolescent screen use: Insights from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study
- Systematized scoping review of instruments for measuring adolescent digital technology use
BibTeX
@article{doz2026digital,
title = {{Digital screen exposure and child and adolescent health: A scoping review of a decade of evidence}},
author = {E Doz and S Ponte and A Warraitch and S Balletto and M Camanni and I Mariani and A Cosma and Y Chzhen and M Black and M Lazzerini},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.963},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.963},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Digital screen exposure and child and adolescent health: A scoping review of a decade of evidence
AU - E Doz
AU - S Ponte
AU - A Warraitch
AU - S Balletto
AU - M Camanni
AU - I Mariani
AU - A Cosma
AU - Y Chzhen
AU - M Black
AU - M Lazzerini
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.963
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.963
AB - Background: The pervasiveness of digital screen exposure (DSE) among children and adolescents has raised concerns about its potential impact on health and wellbeing. This scoping review examined the characteristics, quality, and key findings of existing systematic reviews on the relationship between DSE and health outcomes in individuals aged 0–19 years. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across seven databases to identify systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, published between 2015-2025. Results: We identified 138 systematic reviews, reporting 2,749 unique primary studies, with only 103 (3.3%) conducted in Lower-Middle-Income (LMICs)/Low-Income Countries (LICs). The number of reviews more than doubled after 2020. Most reviews (n = 102, 73.9%) focused on a single outcome category, with mental health/risk behaviours (n = 71) and cognitive development (n = 51) being the most common, and physical outcomes being less frequently explored. Most reviews (n = 84, 60.9%) reported DSE as a risk factor for adverse health outcomes, several reported mixed associations (n = 40, 29%), five (3.6%) null association, two (1.4%) protective, seven (5%) inconclusive. Eight recent reviews were rated as high-quality. High-quality reviews highlighted: i) a harmful association between DSE and anxiety, depression, suicidality/self-harm, psychological and emotional wellbeing, risk behaviours, sleep, and cardiovascular risk; and ii) mixed associations with self-regulation, social wellbeing, and overweight/physical activity. Conclusions: Further research is needed to inform practice and policy, with priorities including high-quality evidence syntheses with clearer construct definitions, coverage of underexplored outcomes and age-specific effects, increased primary studies in LMICs/LICs, and development of multidimensional metrics for DSE. Meanwhile, these findings support the need for preventive guidance and actions addressing DSE during childhood and adolescence. Key messages: • A large body of evidence synthesis exists on digital screen exposure and youth health. • Low quality of most existing systematic reviews, together with gaps in primary studies, highlight that more research is needed to better understand effects of digital screen exposure and youth health.
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -