Study: Does screen time make a difference? A longitudinal study of youth screen time and well-being, 2019 and 2023
Released: 2026-03-19
Today, Statistics Canada provides new insights on the use of screen time among youth by examining the screen time patterns of a cohort of youth at two points in time: in 2019, when they were aged 12 to 17, and in 2023, when the same group was aged 16 to 21.
The study, "Does screen time make a difference? A longitudinal study of youth screen time and well-being," looks at the relationship between screen time and healthy behaviours, and whether screen time is associated with certain well-being outcomes for this cohort of youth. Because of the nature of the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, this study measures associations rather than cause-and-effect relationships.
Results indicate that nearly 6 in 10 youth (58%) who met screen time guidelines in both 2019 and 2023 reported excellent or very good mental health, compared with 38% of youth who exceeded guidelines in both years.
Relatively few Canadian youth meet screen time guidelines
Over one in three (37%) Canadian youth in the cohort reported exceeding screen time recommendations (two to three hours per day, depending on age), when asked in 2019 and in 2023. Meanwhile, over 1 in 10 youth (14%) met screen time guidelines in both years, and nearly half (49%) followed screen time guidelines in one of the two years.
Men and boys+ (40%) were more likely to exceed screen time guidelines in both years than women and girls+ (34%). In contrast, the same proportion of both genders—14%—met the recommendations in both years. Among youth who met screen time guidelines in only one of the two years, well-being outcomes were mixed, with results generally falling between those of youth who met the guidelines and those of youth who exceeded them. For simplicity, these findings are not reported in this release.
Youth who exceed screen time guidelines are more likely to report poorer well-being outcomes
An important motivation for screen time recommendations is to limit sedentary behaviour. Youth who met screen time recommendations in both 2019 and 2023 were nearly twice as likely to meet physical activity guidelines in 2023 than those who exceeded screen time guidelines in both years (20% for those who met the recommendations versus 12% for those who exceeded them).
Other differences across a range of well-being outcomes based on Canada's Quality of Life Framework emerged between youth who met versus those who exceeded screen time guidelines in both years.
Youth who met screen time guidelines in both 2019 and 2023 were more likely than those who exceeded the guidelines to report, in 2023, that most of their days were not at all stressful (37% for those who met the guidelines versus 25% for those who exceeded them), to report excellent or very good mental health (58% versus 38%), and to report excellent or very good general health (76% versus 63%).
Youth who met screen time recommendations in both years were also more likely than those who exceeded them in both years to report being at least somewhat happy and interested in life (95% for those who met the recommendations versus 84% for those who exceeded them) and to report high life satisfaction (89% versus 78%) in 2023.
Additionally, youth who met recommendations in both 2019 and 2023 were less likely to report body image issues, with three in four youth (75%) saying they never felt preoccupied with a desire to be thinner or felt so only a few times within the past 12 months in 2023, compared with 69% of those who exceeded screen time recommendations in both years.
Average grades were also higher among youth who met screen time recommendations in both 2019 and 2023. Youth who met recommendations (94%) were more likely than those who exceeded them (88%) to achieve an overall grade of 70% or higher.
Impact of physical activity on the association between screen time and well-being outcomes
A possible explanation for these differences in well-being may be related to differences in overall physical activity, rather than screen time. It is possible that increased physical activity may diminish the observed association between screen time and well-being outcomes.
For all general well-being outcomes, meeting both the physical activity and screen time guidelines was associated with better well-being compared with meeting neither set of guidelines. For example, youth who met both sets of guidelines were more likely to perceive most of their days as not stressful (46%), compared to 23% of youth who met neither set of guidelines.
Youth who met physical activity guidelines in 2019 but not screen time guidelines in either 2019 or 2023—compared with those who met neither set of guidelines—reported better well-being in terms of low levels of stress (37% for those who met only the physical activity guidelines in 2019 versus 23% who met neither set of guidelines), positive physical health (76% versus 60%), and positive mental health (55% versus 36%). However, for the remaining well-being outcomes measured, meeting physical activity but not screen time guidelines resulted in no significant differences in well-being relative to youth who met neither set of guidelines.
Note to readers
The Canadian Paediatric Society screen time guidelines are based on age: no more than two hours of recreational screen time per day for those aged 5 to 17 years and no more than three hours for those 18 years and older.
This study used data from the longitudinal components of the 2019 and the 2023 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY), which was administered from February 11, 2019, and August 2, 2019, and again from March 2023 to June 2023. The 2023 CHSCY is a cross-sectional and longitudinal survey that collects information on issues that affect the physical and mental health of children and youth in Canada. It covers a broad range of topics including physical activity, the use of electronic devices, time spent in school, extracurricular activities, mental health, childhood experiences, substance use and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The target population covered the population aged 1 to 17 as of January 31, 2019, living in the 10 Canadian provinces, excluding children and youth living on First Nation reserves and other Indigenous settlements in the provinces; children and youth living in foster homes; the institutionalized population; and residents of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
More information on the CHSCY is available on the Statistics Canada website on the page Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY).
Statistical analysis
This study examined youth aged 12 to 17 as of January 31, 2019, who responded to question EDV_Q050 on the CHSCY 2019: "In the past 7 days, how much time in total did you spend using any electronic device such as a mobile device, computer, tablet, video game console or television while you were sitting or lying down?" and question EDV_Q050 on the CHSCY 2023: "On a typical day, how much time in total do you spend using any electronic device such as a mobile device, computer, tablet, video game console or television while you are sitting or lying down?" Weekly averages in 2019 were converted to daily averages by dividing the total by seven. This study additionally measured those who met physical activity and sleep guidelines.
Representative population mean estimates and upper and lower 95% confidence levels of the mean were produced using CHSCY bootstrap survey weights for youth and the balanced repeated replication variance estimation method. Additionally, the Bonferroni method was used to adjust for multiple comparisons.
Limitations
Electronic use while being inactive was measured differently in the 2019 and 2023 CHSCY. In 2019, the CHSCY measured electronic use while being inactive based on total time in the past seven days, whereas in 2023, the CHSCY measured it by total hours on a typical day. This meant the average amount of sedentary screen time could not be calculated for 2019.
This study was unable to account for the type of content consumed during screen time or what proportion of screen time was spent on various online activities.
It should be noted that the questions used in this analysis came from self-reported data; therefore, responses are subject to recall issues (e.g., the number of hours spent using a screen while inactive).
First Nations communities and Inuit Nunangat were not included in the sample, as they were outside the scope of the survey. These areas often have low connectivity and may differ from other areas in screen time among youth.
Products
The article entitled "Does screen time make a difference? A longitudinal study of youth screen time and well-being" is now available in Insights on Canadian Society (75-006-X).
The infographic "Screen time and well-being among children," which is part of Statistics Canada – Infographics (11-627-M), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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