Many parents may be worried about the effect of screen time on their teen children's mental health. However, a team of researchers has found that teens who had positive online interactions were less lonely during the lockdown. This suggests that it's the quality, not the quantity of time spent online that matters when it comes to well-being. The lockdowns related to COVID-19 had teens cooped up in their homes for quite a long time. In Peru, for instance, strict lockdown in 2020 had tens of millions of people in their homes, with only one adult family member allowed to leave to complete errands, the University of California Berkeley noted in a news release. "Our findings support our hypothesis that how you spend your time on screens, and not how much time you spend online, is the best predictor of loneliness and well-being," the study's lead author, Dr. Lucía Magis-Weinberg of UC Berkeley's Institute of Human Development, said. "In light of this, teachers and parents might want to focus more on promoting positive online experiences for youth rather than limiting screen time." Stories on this topic have appeared in dozens of sources. For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News.