More Screen Time, Better Brain Performance? Finnish Study Challenges What Parents Have Been Told
A long-term Finnish study suggests that higher cumulative screen time in childhood may be associated with better cognitive processing in adolescence. The findings challenge the conventional wisdom that all screen time is inherently harmful to child development.
Why it matters
This research provides a more nuanced perspective on digital habits, potentially shifting how parents and educators approach screen time management for children.
Young Kids on a tablet A Finnish study challenges one of the most familiar warnings in modern parenting: that more screen time automatically means worse outcomes for children.
Researchers who followed children from childhood into adolescence found that greater cumulative self-reported screen time was associated with better cognitive processing during the teenage years. The finding does not mean phones, tablets or video games have suddenly become a prescription for better brains, but it does complicate the idea that every minute spent looking at a screen is harmful.
The research came from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children, or PANIC, study, a long-running Finnish project examining children's lifestyles as they grow. The new research was published in Pediatric Exercise Science in 2026, with Petri Jalanko of the University of Jyväskylä among the researchers.
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