The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use

Abstract

1The widespread use of digital technologies by young people has spurred speculation that their 2 regular use negatively impacts psychological well-being. Current empirical evidence 3 supporting this idea is largely based on secondary analyses of large-scale social datasets. 4 Though these datasets provide a valuable resource for highly powered investigations, their 5 many variables and observations are often explored with an analytic flexibility that marks small 6 effects as statistically significant, thereby leading to potential false positives and conflicting 7 results. Here we address these methodological challenges by applying Specification Curve 8 Analysis across three large-scale social datasets (ntot = 355,358) to rigorously examine 9 correlational evidence for digital technology affecting adolescents. The association we find 10 between digital technology use and adolescent well-being is negative but small, explaining at 11 most 0.4% of the variation in well-being. Taking the broader context of the data into account 12 suggests that these effects are too small to warrant policy change. 13 Re-Evaluating the Relation between Digital Technology Use and Adolescent Well-Being 1 2The idea that digital devices and the Internet have an enduring influence on how 3 humans develop, socialize, and thrive is a compelling one 1 . As the time young people spend 4 online has doubled in the past decade 2 , the debate about whether this shift negatively impacts 5 children and adolescents is becoming increasingly heated 3 . A number of professional and 6 governmental organizations have therefore called for more research into digital screen time 4,5 , 7 which has led to household panel surveys 6,7 and large-scale social datasets adding measures 8 of digital technology use to those already assessing psychological well-being 8 . Unfortunately, 9 findings derived from the cross-sectional analysis of these datasets are conflicting; in some 10 cases negative associations between digital technology use and well-being are found 9,10 , often 11 receiving much attention even when correlations are small. Yet other results are mixed 11 or 12 contest previously found negative effects when re-analysing identical data 12 . A high-quality 13 pre-registered analysis of UK adolescents found that moderate digital engagement does not 14 correlate with well-being, but very high levels of usage possibly has small negative 15 associations 13,14 . 16 There are at least three reasons why the inferences behavioural scientists draw from 17 large-scale datasets might produce divergent findings. First, these datasets are mostly 18 collected in collaboration with multidisciplinary research councils and are characterized by a 19 battery of items meant to be completed by postal survey, face-to-face or telephone interview 6-20 8 . Though research councils engage in public consultations 15 , the pre-tested or validated 21 scales common in clinical, social or personality psychology are often abbreviated or altered to 22 reduce participant burden 16...

Annual Research Review: Adolescent mental health in the digital age: facts, fears, and future directions

“…Over the last year, other research teams have analyzed these same data (Kreski et al, submitted; Orben & Przybylski, ) and reported similar small initial associations between social media use and depressive symptoms. However, there are two important differences in the recent reporting from these same data.…”

“…Similar to findings from systematic reviews and meta‐analyses, the most recent and rigorous large‐scale and preregistered studies have not found strong support for a robust linkage between adolescents’ technology use and well‐being. Using specification curve analysis across three national data sources of adolescents ( N > 350,0000), two based in the United States and one in the UK, Orben and Przybylski () demonstrated that choices related to the specification of variables capturing digital technology use, adolescent well‐being, and confounders can generate a myriad of effect sizes, with the most likely association being exceedingly small and explaining a small portion of the variance in well‐being. More specifically, across their 3,221,225,472 analyses, technology use accounted for less than 1% (0.4%) of the variation in well‐being.…”

Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger

“…separations. Yet, some have argued that using social medial only exacerbates subjective feelings of isolation(118, for review) but see (119,120). Future studies could compare SN/VTA responses to social cues following isolation with and without access to social media.…”

Growing up with Google: How children's understanding and use of internet‐based devices relates to cognitive development

“…These popular fears are echoed by internet users who indicate that internet use has impaired their memory and concentration (Näsi & Koivusilta, ) and who feel stressed by the amount of information available online (i.e., experience “information overload”; Horrigan, ). That said, empirical research on the cognitive effects of internet‐based device and internet use has been inconclusive and yielded inconsistent outcomes (e.g., Orben & Przybyzki, ; see also reviews by K. L. Mills, ; Wilmer, Sherman, & Chein, ), and research with young children has rarely been conducted at all. Children are clearly capable of learning from internet‐based devices, just as they are capable of learning from books or television (see Troseth & Strouse, ).…”