Does the use of digital media affect psychological well-being? An empirical test among children aged 9 to 12
- Author
- Helena Bruggeman, Alain Van Hiel (UGent) , Guido Van Hal and Stefan Van Dongen
- Organization
- Abstract
- Does digital media use support or undermine psychological well-being? This question has not only elicited a lot of attention in the popular media, but it also has been investigated empirically in scientific literature. Much of these studies have been conducted in samples of adolescents and adults, reporting both positive and negative effects of digital media use on well-being, leading to at least four theoretical positions about this relationship. In each of these theories the relationship between digital media use and well-being is explained by people's social network. In the present study, we address the question whether digital media use is related to psychological well-being in a large sample (N = 13,871) of children aged 9-12 year. The results revealed rather weak linear relationships (r's < 0.10), but at the same time it has been shown that highest frequency users of digital media in terms of daily use had a relative risk of 2.0 and beyond to score lower on well-being. In the specific group of children who have a Facebook profile (N = 2,528, 18.2%), their offline social network was a much stronger predictor of well-being compared to their online social network. Based on these cross sectional results, it is concluded that heavy use of digital media by young children has an adverse impact on their psychological well-being, but that mild use of such media has very limited effects in this respect.
- Keywords
- SOCIAL NETWORK SITES, INTERNET PARADOX, ADOLESCENTS, SUPPORT, SCHOOL, FRIENDSHIP, CHILDHOOD, CONSEQUENCES, SYMPTOMS, OFFLINE, Digital media use, Facebook, Offline social network, Online social, network, Subjective well-being
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8767842
- MLA
- Bruggeman, Helena, et al. “Does the Use of Digital Media Affect Psychological Well-Being? An Empirical Test among Children Aged 9 to 12.” COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, vol. 101, 2019, pp. 104–13, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.015.
- APA
- Bruggeman, H., Van Hiel, A., Van Hal, G., & Van Dongen, S. (2019). Does the use of digital media affect psychological well-being? An empirical test among children aged 9 to 12. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, 101, 104–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.015
- Chicago author-date
- Bruggeman, Helena, Alain Van Hiel, Guido Van Hal, and Stefan Van Dongen. 2019. “Does the Use of Digital Media Affect Psychological Well-Being? An Empirical Test among Children Aged 9 to 12.” COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 101: 104–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.015.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Bruggeman, Helena, Alain Van Hiel, Guido Van Hal, and Stefan Van Dongen. 2019. “Does the Use of Digital Media Affect Psychological Well-Being? An Empirical Test among Children Aged 9 to 12.” COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 101: 104–113. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.015.
- Vancouver
- 1.Bruggeman H, Van Hiel A, Van Hal G, Van Dongen S. Does the use of digital media affect psychological well-being? An empirical test among children aged 9 to 12. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR. 2019;101:104–13.
- IEEE
- [1]H. Bruggeman, A. Van Hiel, G. Van Hal, and S. Van Dongen, “Does the use of digital media affect psychological well-being? An empirical test among children aged 9 to 12,” COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, vol. 101, pp. 104–113, 2019.
@article{8767842,
abstract = {{Does digital media use support or undermine psychological well-being? This question has not only elicited a lot of attention in the popular media, but it also has been investigated empirically in scientific literature. Much of these studies have been conducted in samples of adolescents and adults, reporting both positive and negative effects of digital media use on well-being, leading to at least four theoretical positions about this relationship. In each of these theories the relationship between digital media use and well-being is explained by people's social network. In the present study, we address the question whether digital media use is related to psychological well-being in a large sample (N = 13,871) of children aged 9-12 year. The results revealed rather weak linear relationships (r's < 0.10), but at the same time it has been shown that highest frequency users of digital media in terms of daily use had a relative risk of 2.0 and beyond to score lower on well-being. In the specific group of children who have a Facebook profile (N = 2,528, 18.2%), their offline social network was a much stronger predictor of well-being compared to their online social network. Based on these cross sectional results, it is concluded that heavy use of digital media by young children has an adverse impact on their psychological well-being, but that mild use of such media has very limited effects in this respect.}},
author = {{Bruggeman, Helena and Van Hiel, Alain and Van Hal, Guido and Van Dongen, Stefan}},
issn = {{0747-5632}},
journal = {{COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR}},
keywords = {{SOCIAL NETWORK SITES,INTERNET PARADOX,ADOLESCENTS,SUPPORT,SCHOOL,FRIENDSHIP,CHILDHOOD,CONSEQUENCES,SYMPTOMS,OFFLINE,Digital media use,Facebook,Offline social network,Online social,network,Subjective well-being}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{104--113}},
title = {{Does the use of digital media affect psychological well-being? An empirical test among children aged 9 to 12}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.015}},
volume = {{101}},
year = {{2019}},
}
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