Target high‑risk teens, not screen time

Large, preregistered cohort studies and momentary-assessment research find only small average links between adolescents’ total digital use and depression/anxiety. The useful policy shift is to stop treating total screen minutes as the primary metric and instead focus research and services on high‑risk contexts and individuals (for example, preexisting mental‑health vulnerability, cyberbullying exposure, sleep disruption) and on causal study designs. — Reorienting policy and media from blanket screen‑time alarms to targeted supports and better causal research would change school rules, parental guidance, and public‑health investment.