Sleep & Recovery

Screen Time Consistently Disrupts Sleep in Kids and Teens, Umbrella Review Confirms

Researchers conducted an umbrella review of 84 systematic reviews examining how media use affects sleep in children and adolescents aged 0–18. The analysis, updated through late 2024, found that screen time generally has a negative impact on sleep quality and duration, though the strength of evidence ranged from very low to strong. Most underlying studies relied on self-reported sleep measures and cross-sectional designs, limiting causal conclusions. Interestingly, evidence for the effect of conventional books on sleep remained inconclusive. The review highlights a major gap in the field: a shortage of high-quality studies using objective sleep measures and examining a full range of media types and age groups. Parents, pediatricians, and public health officials will find this a useful framework, but the call for better-designed research is clear.