Considering the potential mental and physical health implications of passive sedentary behavior and screen time, monitoring and understanding trends in screen time during COVID-19 is important to understanding overall health impacts of the pandemic. There is some evidence to suggest lifestyle behaviors, such as recreational screen time, have been altered as a result of physical distancing measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recreational screen time, which often includes watching TV, computer use, and smartphone use, is one of the most common means of engaging in sedentary behavior. Therefore, both the quantity and type of sedentary time are important in understanding health implications. There is growing research that supports that passive sedentary behavior and screen use, such as leisure time activities including television (TV) watching, is more harmful to both physical and mental health than mentally active sedentary behavior and screen use such as occupational contexts, reading, or socializing with others. Recently, more attention has been placed on context of sedentary behavior, especially screen time (i.e., mentally active versus passive) and associated health outcomes. As a result, the 2018 physical activity guidelines for Americans added an aim to reduce sedentary time by replacing it with more active behaviors. adults are engaging in sedentary behavior has increased significantly over time. Beyond physical health impacts, greater time spent engaging in sedentary behavior is also associated with poorer mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression. Sedentary behavior is suggested to have negative impacts on overall health that are independent of physical activity level, including increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, type 2 diabetes, and poorer dietary intake. Health professionals and public health messaging could promote specific forms for screen time to encourage social connection during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Findings suggest that screen time and mental health may be intertwined during the pandemic as it may lead to poorer mental health for some, while promoting connectedness for others. Some participants reported trying to reduce screen time because of its negative impact on their mental health (n = 32). Commonly reported reasons for changes in screen time were boredom (n = 112) and a desire to connect with others (n = 52). The form of screen time most commonly reported to increase was TV shows and streaming services (n = 233). Weekly recreational screen time increased from 25.9 ± 11.9 h in 2018 to 28.5 ± 11.6 h during COVID-19 ( p < 0.001). Additionally, participants qualitatively reported how events related to COVID-19 had influenced their screen time. Participants (n = 716) reported their average weekly recreational screen time in 2018 and again during the pandemic in 2020. The purpose of this study was to quantify and describe changes in recreational screen time from 2018 to 2020 among a diverse sample of emerging adults. Understanding how screen time behaviors changed during the COVID-19 pandemic is important to inform the design of health promotion interventions.
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