ASSOCIAÇÃO ENTRE TEMPO DE TELA E SAÚDE MENTAL EM ADOLESCENTES: UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA

Resumo

Mental health among adolescents constitutes a significant public health concern, as approximately one in seven individuals in this age group have mental disorders. Increased screen time has been associated with negative outcomes, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, behavioral problems, and impairments in psychosocial development. Additionally, excessive use of electronic devices is linked to poorer sleep quality, a factor associated with the development of mental disorders. Adolescen ce itself represents a period of heightened emotional and psychological vulnerability. This study aimed to analyze the association between screen time and mental health in adolescents. A literature review was conducted using the PubMed and Scopus databases , employing the search terms “screen time,” “social media,” “adolescents,” “anxiety,” “depression,” and “emotional regulation,” combined with the Boolean operators AND and OR. Six articles published between 2016 and 2024, in English and involving adolescen ts were included. A qualitative analysis of the selected studies was performed, synthesizing the main findings related to screen time and its effects on adolescent mental health. The analyzed studies demonstrate a consistent association between increased s creen time and poorer mental health outcomes in adolescents. Higher screen time was associated with a greater prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms, suicidal behaviors, and poorer sleep quality, with approximately 35% of adolescentes presenting inadequate sleep in some studies. The average screen time was approximately 7 hours per day, with an increase of up to 52% during the COVID -19 pandemic. Adolescents with lower screen time tended to demonstrate better academic performance and better sleep patterns. Possible mechanisms include reduced time spent on physical activity, fewer face-to-face social interactions, and alterations in sleep patterns. The findings indicate that increased screen time is associated with poorer mental health outcomes in adolescents, including depressive symptoms, sleep disturbances, and suicidal behaviors. These effects appear to depend not only on exposure duration, but also on the type of use and associated behavioral factors. These results reinforce the importance of educational strategies, supervision of digital media use, and further studies to better understand the mechanisms underlying this association.