Peer-Reviewed Study

Gender Differences in Associations Between Digital Media Use and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence From Three Large Datasets

Feb 2020 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 Journal of Adolescence Ages 13–18 PEER-REVIEWED PAYWALLED — LINKED, NOT HOSTED

Suicide and self-harm are complex and never caused by one factor alone. Problematic screen use, cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation may increase risk or intensify existing distress. If someone is in immediate danger or emotional crisis in the United States, call or text 988.

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Published in the Journal of Adolescence, this study by Jean Twenge and Gabrielle Martin drew on three large, nationally representative surveys of 13- to 18-year-olds in the U.S. and U.K. (a combined 221,096 adolescents) to examine whether digital media use is associated with well-being differently for girls and boys. Girls reported more time on smartphones, social media, and texting; boys reported more time gaming. Across all three datasets, moderate-to-heavy digital media use was associated with lower psychological well-being and more mental-health difficulties, generally larger for girls than boys. Light users reported slightly higher well-being than non-users, a benefit more pronounced among boys. In both genders, heavy users were about twice as likely as light users to score low on well-being or report mental-health difficulties, including risk factors for suicide. TechKids Foundation cites this as evidence the screen-use/mental-health association is generally stronger for girls.

n = 221,096 U.S. and U.K. adolescents, ages 13–18

Combined sample across three separate large, nationally representative surveys.

Heavy users ~2x more likely to report low well-being or mental-health issues

Across both genders, heavy digital-media users were, on average, roughly twice as likely as light users to score low in well-being or to report mental-health issues, including risk factors for suicide, according to the study's abstract.

Association larger for girls than boys

The authors report that associations between moderate-or-heavy digital media use and low well-being/mental-health issues were generally larger for girls than for boys across all three datasets.

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CITATION

Twenge, Jean M., and Gabrielle N. Martin. "Gender Differences in Associations Between Digital Media Use and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence From Three Large Datasets." Journal of Adolescence 79 (2020): 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.018

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