Decreases in psychological well-being among American adolescents after 2012 and links to screen time during the rise of smartphone technology
Twenge JM, Martin GN, Campbell WK
Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 227 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2018-01-22 · Emotion · vol. 18 · issue 6 · pp. 765–780
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Cited
- 764 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 155.5× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 49 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research
- Keywords
- adolescent psychological well-being, screen time, smartphone adoption, self-esteem, life satisfaction, happiness, time use, social media, digital communication, Great Recession, economic indicators, face-to-face interaction
- MeSH
- humans, personal satisfaction, happiness, self concept, interpersonal relations, history, 21st century, internet, adolescent, united states, female, male, text messaging, social media, psychology, adolescent, smartphone
3 authors
From US
- Jean M. TwengeSan Diego State University
- Gabrielle N. MartinSan Diego State University
- William Keith CampbellUniversity of Georgia
Abstract
In nationally representative yearly surveys of United States 8th, 10th, and 12th graders 1991-2016 (N = 1.1 million), psychological well-being (measured by self-esteem, life satisfaction, and happiness) suddenly decreased after 2012. Adolescents who spent more time on electronic communication and screens (e.g., social media, the Internet, texting, gaming) and less time on nonscreen activities (e.g., in-person social interaction, sports/exercise, homework, attending religious services) had lower psychological well-being. Adolescents spending a small amount of time on electronic communication were the happiest. Psychological well-being was lower in years when adolescents spent more time on screens and higher in years when they spent more time on nonscreen activities, with changes in activities generally preceding declines in well-being. Cyclical economic indicators such as unemployment were not significantly correlated with well-being, suggesting that the Great Recession was not the cause of the decrease in psychological well-being, which may instead be at least partially due to the rapid adoption of smartphones and the subsequent shift in adolescents' time use. (PsycINFO Database Record
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
Community trust
Loading…
How much do you trust this study's findings?
Comments
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inSomething wrong here?
Flag this study if its information, labels or funding look wrong. An editor reviews every flag.
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inEducational information about published research. Not medical advice, and not a recommendation to start or stop anything.