Cognitive Effects of Daily Screen Time Habits among Early Adolescents

Background: Screen time has become a normal part of daily life for early adolescents. Many young students switch between schoolwork, videos, gaming, and social media throughout the day. Some of this use is helpful and even necessary, especially for learning. However, long hours on screens are concerning and affect attention, memory, and overall thinking skills. Sleep disturbance caused by late-night screen use may also influence how well students perform in school. Objective: To explore how daily screen-time habits relate to basic cognitive functions in early adolescents aged 11 to 14 years. The focus was on attention, working memory, processing speed, and sleep quality. Methodology: This study used a cross-sectional design to examine associations between screen-time habits and cognitive functioning in early adolescents. We recruited 100 students, aged 12 to 14 years, from four different schools. Schools were selected through convenience sampling within the local region; within each school, students were approached randomly during regular school hours after obtaining permission from school authorities and parental consent. Students with known neurological, developmental, or serious health conditions were excluded to avoid confounding. Each participant completed a self-administered questionnaire capturing their daily screen-time habits. Participants completed a short sleep-quality scale, adapted from existing sleep questionnaires, to report usual bedtime, wake-up time, sleep disturbances, and subjective sleep quality. Cognitive assessment of participants was carried out using standardized short tasks. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to explore linear relationships and multiple linear regression models were constructed to test the predictive value. Results: Students who spent more than three hours a day on recreational screens, especially at night, showed lower attention and weaker working-memory scores. Their reaction times were slower, and many reported disturbed sleep. On the other hand, moderate academic screen use did not show major negative effects and, in some cases, showed slightly better performance. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that parents and teachers should guide early adolescents toward healthy and balanced screen habits. It is important to limit recreational or entertainment screen time, especially during the evening, as this can affect sleep and overall brain function. Encouraging good