Experts Say ‘How Much’ Is the Wrong Way to Assess Screen Time

Way back in the late 1990s—not long after home Internet use became widespread in the U.S.—researchers started turning up links between time spent on computers and poor mental health.

A 1998 study in the journal CyberPsychology and Behavior found heavy internet use—defined as 38 hours or more of non-work, non-school online activity—was associated with “significant social, psychological, and occupational impairments.

Way back in the late 1990s—not long after home Internet use became widespread in the U.S.—researchers started turning up links between time spent on computers and poor mental health. A 1998 study in the journal CyberPsychology and Behavior found heavy internet use—defined as 38 hours or more of non-work, non-school online activity—was associated with “significant social, psychological, and occupational impairments.