Cited by 72Child Development and Digital TechnologyImpact of Technology on AdolescentsDigital Media and Philosophy

Media use, attention, mental health and academic performance among 8 to 12 year old children

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Cardoso-Leite, Pedro, Buchard, Albert, Tissieres, Isabel, Mussack, Dominic, Bavelier, Daphne·2021·PLOS ONE

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.

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Cited by

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Authors
Cardoso-Leite, P., Buchard, A., Tissieres, I., Mussack, D., & Bavelier, D.
Affiliations
  • University of Luxembourg (LU)
  • University of Geneva (CH)
Corresponding author
Cardoso-Leite, Pedro
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2021-11-17
Volume
16
Issue
11
Pages
e0259163
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3163837537
Cited by
72
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 2
FWCI
11.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg (ATTRACT/2016/ID/11242114/DIGILEARN)
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (100014_159506)
  • Jacobs Foundation
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
children's media use, video gaming, media multitasking, attentional control, mental health, academic performance, psychological distress, sleep, grit, growth mindset, psychological network analysis
MeSH terms
Academic Performance, Attention, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Motivation, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sleep, Video Games

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