Abstract
The rise in digital media consumption, especially among children, raises the societal question of its impact on cognition, mental health and academic achievement. Here, we investigate three different ways of measuring technology use-—total hours of media consumed, hours of video game play and number of media used concurrently—-in 118 eight-to-twelve year-old children. At stake is the question of whether different technology uses have different effects, which could explain some of the past mixed findings. We collected data about children’s media uses as well as (i) attentional and behavioral control abilities, (ii) psychological distress, psychosocial functioning, and sleep, and (iii) academic achievement and motivation. While attentional control abilities were assessed using both cognitive tests and questionnaires, mental health and sleep were all questionnaire-based. Finally, academic performance was based on self-reported grades, with motivational variables being measured through the grit and the growth-mindset questionnaires. We present partial correlation analyses and construct a psychological network to assess the structural associations between different forms of media consumption and the three categories of measures. We observe that children consume large amounts of media and media multitask substantially. Partial correlation analyses show that media multitasking specifically was mostly correlated with negative mental health, while playing video games was associated with faster responding and better mental health. No significant partial correlations were observed for total hours on media. Psychological network analysis complement these first results by indicating that all three ways of consuming technology are only indirectly related to self-reported grades. Thus, technology uses appear to only indirectly relate to academic performance, while more directly affecting mental health. This work emphasizes the need to differentiate among technology uses if one is to understand how every day digital consumption impacts human behavior.
Highlights
IntroductionDigital media consumption (e.g., watching videos, listening to music, playing video games) has increased drastically over the past decades
Digital media consumption has increased drastically over the past decades
Research increasingly suggests that the impact of digital media use on cognition, academic performance or health is complex [e.g., 7, 8], as it depends on the type of media, its content, the context and the traits of the person consuming media [e.g., age, gender]
Summary
Digital media consumption (e.g., watching videos, listening to music, playing video games) has increased drastically over the past decades. In the European Union, 10–14 year olds spend an average of 2.8 hours a day on digital screens; for 15–19 year olds that number increases to about 3 hours per day [3] These numbers reflect the ubiquitous role that digital media has come to play in our lives, a role that is very likely to keep growing both in terms of the magnitude and the diversity of digital media consumption. This state of affairs raises increasing concerns about the impact of digital media consumption, in particular among children. To understand how digital media impacts children’s attentional and behavioral control, mental health and academic achievement requires a finer grained approach [9,10,11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
