A study suggests that the majority of Montreal teenagers increased their screen time a lot in the spring of 2021, in full confinement. However, many of them say they are “bored” of screens, while their intensive use is associated with less well-being and less motivation.
Posted at 12:00 a.m.
The study by the Regional Public Health Department (DRSP) of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal focuses on 725 adolescents aged 13 to 17 interviewed between the months of April and May 2021, “a very restrictive period of confinement of the COVID-19 pandemic” marked in particular by the first curfew and the third wave of infections.
It reveals that 7 out of 10 young Montreal respondents say they have greatly increased at least one type of screen use, such as watching videos, using social media, or playing video games.
“We are not surprised by the increase, because everything was closed for young people,” said Jean-François Biron, researcher at the DRSP and lead author of the study. “Their socializing spaces, their leisure spaces were inaccessible for a fairly prolonged period. »
And many of them are uncomfortable with this situation, while 39% of them say they are sometimes or often “bored” of screens. Nearly half (45%) of respondents say their screen use has “sometimes or often interfered with their sleep” and 37% believe it has interfered with their work or school performance.
No less than 27% of respondents nevertheless spend five hours or more of free time in front of a screen on weekdays, which excludes time spent studying.
This “intensive use” is associated with “lower motivation for studies, lower academic results and lower morale”, it is pointed out. Heavy users also show a higher rate of dissatisfaction with their life and relationships, and they are more likely to have reduced their physical activity.
“It is a bit worrying, that said, it must be put in context with the precise period of the pandemic”, relativizes Mr. Biron. For him, the exercise also shows the relevance of initiatives such as the Break Your Screen campaign or the Center for Emotional Intelligence Online, which offer resources to young people struggling with problems related to the use of screens.
And all is not gloomy in the portrait painted by the DRSP. Thus, the majority of participants used their screens to “maintain and develop relationships” (76%) and to “learn new things” (70%).
The methodology used does not allow us to speak of a probability sample, which is rigorously representative of the population studied, but the survey nevertheless offers “good benchmarks” according to Mr. Biron, given the characteristics of the participants.
However, there are no data allowing a comparison with what prevailed before the pandemic. “The studies on the screens are being established”, explains the researcher. “Uses are changing quite rapidly, so the questions that were asked 10 years ago are no longer really comparable. »