Eye strain in young adults is linked to the type of content consumed

Content might be king, but how you consume is becoming even more important. In addition to harming mental health, staring at screens all day while doom-scrolling through social media results in undue eye strain.

A new study shows that even an hour of using a smartphone causes strain on the eyes of young people, especially when it is spent browsing social media.

Over the course of a one-hour session, participants in the study experienced measurable eye strain, regardless of the type of content they viewed. This bodes poorly for today’s youth, as their screen habits may be taking a deeper toll than they realize.

Measuring eye strain

Sometimes being able to measure a problem concretizes the issue, making it similar to measuring blood sugar or cholesterol levels.

The researchers in this study developed a portable and affordable eye monitoring system. It allowed real-time tracking of blink rate, inter-blink intervals, and pupil diameter in a practical setting. These are the measures of eye strain.

The experimental procedure took place over three consecutive days. Each participant viewed different types of content for 60 minutes per session.

The tests were conducted in a room with consistent lighting, using a RealMe 6 Pro smartphone. The phone was held at a fixed distance.

The design accounted for variables such as posture, screen brightness, and interaction history, ensuring reliable and repeatable results. This system opens new doors for accessible digital wellness monitoring in real-world environments.

Reels strain eyes the most

The study compared the impact of three content types – ebook reading, video watching, and social media reels. Analysis of the data revealed that social media reels were the most taxing on the eyes.

This was attributed to their rapid, dynamic nature and to the constantly shifting brightness of the screen, which led to the most significant fluctuations in pupil dilation.

On average, pupil diameter was largest when viewing social media (5.14 mm or 0.2 inches) compared to eBooks (4.23 mm or 0.16 inches) and videos (4.36 mm or 0.17 inches). The constant visual adaptation required during reels appears to increase eye strain.

TikTok and Instagram reels, while widely popular, have been linked to increased anxiety and other mental health concerns in teens.

They also cause insidious effects on physical health and well-being in the young. For example, eye strain and fatigue are becoming routine and, therefore, often get ignored. 

Smartphone use causes problems

The participants in the study were 30 young adults from India in their early 20s. They all had been using a smartphone for at least a year.

Their average daily screen time was over five hours. Ninety-five percent of the participants reported more than two hours of use each day. Almost all participants (98 percent) reported using their smartphones before going to bed. 

They spent most of this time on social media content, and less on texting and watching videos. 

Notably, 83 percent of participants reported psychophysiological issues like anxiety, sleep disturbance, and mental fatigue. Sixty percent experienced physical discomfort, such as eye strain and neck pain.

Even with these issues, nearly a third of participants reported using their phones continuously for over 20 minutes. These findings highlight the urgent need for developing better screen use habits in young adults.

Not all screen time is equal for eye strain

The study results can translate to practical solutions. Prolonged exposure to dynamic content like social media reels is particularly harmful to eye health. Clearly, that is what needs to be reduced the most.

Other behavioral changes that smartphone users can adopt are: taking regular breaks every 20 minutes, using blue light filters or dark mode, and avoiding screens before sleep.

This study has shown that content choices also matter. Opting for more stable visual content is much easier on the eyes. Minimizing time spent on fast-paced or split-screen media would also ease the load on the eyes.

As screen time continues to rise, these strategies could play a crucial role in protecting eye health. Limiting intentional screen time daily is more important than ever.

The study results were published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research.

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