A little TV after a long day is good for your brain
Critics have long warned that too much TV rots the brain, but new evidence at least suggests a few Time spent in front of the tube can actually benefit your mental health. In a study published in the Journal of Community and Applied Social PsychologyThe researchers combined their own leisure surveys with information from the U.S. Census Bureau on household sizes, stress levels and screen use. People who take “me time” at home after work seem to have an easier time returning to their daily responsibilities.
“Household size actually depends on the demands a person feels when returning home,” Soo Min Toh, a behaviorist at the University of Toronto Mississauga and co-author of the study, said in an academic profile. “We tend to think that home can be a place of rest, but when there are more people around – at least when you consider the number of children – it can create more demands on someone and so it’s not necessarily a place of recovery.”
To reach their findings, Toh and colleague Xian Zhao of Ohio University looked at responses from more than 61,000 married adults recorded in the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics’ American Time Use Survey. They specifically focused on the amount of time respondents watched TV relative to the number of children, as well as their general fatigue or stress levels. While they weren’t surprised to see an increase in reported anxiety and fatigue in households with young children, they did notice a striking caveat: Parents who watched more TV reported that they “experienced” less exhaustion and stress.
From there, Toh and Zhao surveyed more than 100 Canadian students about life at home, asking them to rate statements such as “I can’t hear myself thinking about home.” After the questionnaire, study volunteers recorded nightly reports about their smartphone usage and overall daily mood. Once again, busy homes coincided with negative emotions, but those feelings weren’t as intense for people who spent more time on their phones.
A final survey asked another group of students to list the total number of roommates, the amount of time they spent playing video games, and any difficulty returning to daily responsibilities the next morning. Similar to the previous two phases, young adults with more life companions had a harder time returning to class or work the next day, but those who played more video games did not find it as bothersome.
“Screen time has a buffering effect on household demands, tension and chaos, number of people and responsibilities,” Toh explained.
However, the team cautions against using their findings as an excuse to go out as long as you want each night. For example, their work did not take into account issues such as online addiction, which often negates any potential short-term mental health benefits. At the same time, there may still be a “Goldilocks zone” for many people when it comes to checking social media or trying to beat the next level of video game without seeing the negative health impacts.
“We’re not suggesting you spend more time on your phone…[but] it allows you to take a break and be in that space where you free yourself from all your responsibilities,” Toh said. “And it can be very restorative to reclaim our resources.”
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