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Cited by 13Child Development and Digital TechnologyImpact of Technology on AdolescentsDigital Media and Philosophy

Constancy (the New Media “C”) and Future Generations

Open access
Borzekowski, Dina L. G.·2019·Health Education & Behavior
DOI 10.1177/1090198119863775
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Abstract

In the past, researchers would consider media’s impact on youth in terms of three “Cs”: consumption, content, and context. This article introduces a new construct—constancy—which supplants the previous terms. Constancy refers to the ubiquitous and continuous state of connected screens in the lives of children and adolescents. Constancy characterizes media content and use, which can be proactive, incidental, or contextual, exerting positive or negative effects on different users. Constancy can influence child development, as persistent access to smartphones and reception of messages will affect future generations’ cognition and education, social interactions, emotions, and health. It will be important to address the developmental needs of the child or adolescent and not the smartphone in his or her pocket. Constancy requires pragmatic and innovative methodologies to understand the new circumstances around children, adolescents, and media. The landscape has changed and so must our approach to research and investigation of media effects.

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Crossref · 10.1177/1090198119863775

Cites

81 of 81 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Social media use is correlated with conduct and emotional problems, attention deficit, peer problems, school impairments, and psychological distress.

    “Social media use is also correlated with conduct and emotional problems, attention deficit, peer problems, school impairments, and psychological distress [23,45,61,62].”

    From The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. (2022) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Emotional Development section says media use is associated with problematic emotional symptoms and describes an association between greater social media use and social isolation. It does not establish the claimed correlations with attention deficit, peer problems, or school impairments; its conduct-disorder statistic describes prevalence, not an association with social media. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Excessive use of smartphones and other digital devices can cause physical problems, such as a more sedentary lifestyle, which is positively associated with childhood obesity.

    “Excessive use of smartphones and other digital devices can also cause physical problems, such as a more sedentary lifestyle [45], which is positively associated with childhood obesity.”

    From The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. (2022) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Health section says much media use is sedentary and reports associations between screen time and lower physical activity. It explicitly questions whether the relationship is causal, so it does not establish the citing sentence’s claim that device use causes a more sedentary lifestyle. The Abstract also links reduced screen time with less sedentary behavior and less weight gain in children. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • Evidence supports a correlation between social media and physical activity.

    “Evidence supports a correlation between social media and physical activity [45,49,57,73,79].”

    From The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. (2022) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Health section reports inverse relationships between screen time or sedentary media use and physical activity among young people. It does not establish a correlation specifically between social media use and physical activity; the claim narrows broader screen-media evidence to social media. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Some social media contents promote pro-anorexia messages.

    “Some social media contents promote pro-anorexia messages [44,45,46].”

    From The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. (2022) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Health section discusses unhealthy media messages and risky behaviors, while the passage on social-media content describes promotion of fast foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Neither passage addresses pro-anorexia messages, and searches for “pro-anorexia messages” and “eating disorders anorexia social media body image” found no passage that does. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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  • On social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, body image has become an important topic.

    “On social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, body image has become an important topic [17,25,45,46,50,73].”

    From The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks. (2022) · cites this paper as [45]

    The only body-image match in our copy is a References entry for a study of Facebook photo activity and body-image disturbance. Searches for body image and related terms found no passage in the paper's discussion saying that body image has become an important topic on Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram; the reference title alone does not establish that claim. (LLM, conf=0.73)

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Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 82 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [9]9. Borzekowski, D. L. G. (2014). Examining media's impact on chil- dren's weight: Amount, content, and context. In A. B. Jordan & D. Romer (Eds.), Media and the well-being of children and ado- lescents (pp. 44-51). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  2. [20]20. De Jans, S., Hudders, L., & Cauberghe, V. (2017). Advertising lit- eracy training: The immediate versus delayed effects on chil- dren's responses to product placement. European Journal of Marketing, 51, 2156-2174.
  3. [30]30. Hashem, R., Rey-Lopez, J. P., Hamer, M., McMunn, A., Whincup, P. H., Owen, C. G., . . . Stamatakis, E. (2018). Physical activity and sedentary behavior levels of Kuwati adolescents. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 15, 255-262.
  4. [73]73. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). To be happy or to be self-ful- filled: A review of research on hedonic and eudemonic well- being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141-166.
  5. [83]83. Takeuchi, L. M., & Levine, M. H. (2014). Learning in a digital age: Toward a new ecology of human development. In A. B. Jordan & D. Romer (Eds.), Media and the well-being of children and adolescents (pp. 20-43). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Authors
Borzekowski, D. L. G.
Affiliations
University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Corresponding author
Borzekowski, Dina L. G.
ORCID
Borzekowski, Dina L. G.
Venue
Health Education & Behavior
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2019-11-19
Volume
46
Issue
2_suppl
Pages
20-29
ISSN
  • 1090-1981 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-6127
DOI
10.1177/1090198119863775
OpenAlex
W2990103733
Cited by
13
References
82
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
5.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Health Education & Behavior (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Digital Media and Philosophy
Keywords
screen time, smartphones, children and adolescents, media influence, child development, media use, media content, social interaction, cognitive development, adolescent health, future generations
MeSH terms
Screen Time, Adolescent, Child, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Social Change, Health Behavior, Social Media

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