9.2 HOW MUCH SCREEN TIME IS TOO MUCH

Objectives: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, screens and social media were ubiquitous in the lives of US adolescents. In 2019, teenagers were already consuming more than 7 hours of screen time daily. By March 2020, the digital world became many teenagers’ primary connection to the outside world. Families and mental health clinicians suddenly found themselves immersed in new predicaments surrounding youth digital media use. Youth were forced to face personal stressors, a viral pandemic, and repeated racial injustice through the lens of screens. By the end of this talk, participants will: 1) understand the multitude of ways teenagers use digital media as a part of normal adolescent growth and development;2) identify ways in which youth screen time changed over the course of 2020;and 3) be able to reflect on the potential risks of excessive digital media use when relying upon it as a primary source of interpersonal connectedness. Methods: We will briefly review the existing data regarding how social media use and screen time have been tied to normative adolescent identity formation. This presentation will review early research findings surrounding youth mental health during the pandemic, and the presenter will share preliminary data from her own research that used novel digital phenotyping technology to examine adolescent digital media use in youth before and after the start of the pandemic. We will then discuss specific situations over the last year that have challenged our reliance on screen media, as well as engage the audience through case examples. Results: Online communication plays a significant role in the way many adolescents strengthen interpersonal relationships, establish personal values, and consolidate identity. However, 2020 saw both a significant rise in screen time as well as adolescent mental health crises. Unfortunately for youth under duress, digital media use can become a maladaptive coping skill that can exacerbate racial trauma or place an unsupervised adolescent at imminent risk. Conclusions: The past year has allowed mental health experts to witness firsthand the varied risks and benefits of youth reliance on digital media use. Thus, the need for standardized, preemptive guidance for youth and parents surrounding healthy digital media use has become imperative for clinical practice. ADOL, DEV, MED