Daily Digital Technology Use Linked to Mental Health Symptoms for High-risk Adolescents

This study examines whether 388 adolescents’ digital technology use is associated with mental-health symptoms during early adolescence to midadolescence. Adolescents completed an initial Time 1 (T1) assessment in 2015, followed by a 14-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) via mobile phone in 2016–2017 that yielded 13,017 total observations over 5,270 study days. Adolescents’ T1 technology use did not predict later mental-health symptoms. Adolescents’ reported mental health was also not worse on days when they reported spending more versus less time on technology. Little was found to support daily quadratic associations (whereby adolescent mental health was worse on days with little or excessive use). Adolescents at higher risk for mental-health problems also exhibited no signs of increased risk for mental-health problems on higher technology use days. Findings from this EMA study do not support the narrative that young adolescents’ digital technology usage is associated with elevated mental-health symptoms.

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Prenatal sleep quality and mental health symptoms across the perinatal period: A longitudinal study of high-risk women

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.11.011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 ◽

pp. 31-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Julia L. Paulson ◽

Laura Miller-Graff

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

High Risk ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Perinatal Period ◽

Mental Health Symptoms ◽

Health Symptoms ◽

High Risk Women

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The Association Between Electronic and In-Person Dating Violence Victimization, Anxiety, and Depression Among College Students in Hawai’i

Partner Abuse ◽

10.1891/1946-6560.9.4.313 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 313-334 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christine Weingarten ◽

Ashley Wu ◽

Kalani Gates ◽

Patricia Carreño ◽

Charlene Baker

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Dating Violence ◽

Technology Use ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Dating Relationships ◽

Mental Health Symptoms ◽

Health Symptoms ◽

Violence Victimization ◽

College Age ◽

Emotional Aggression

Among the college-age population, social media and other forms of electronic communication have become commonplace. This population is also considered at high risk for dating violence experiences; however, the intersection of electronic use and dating violence has only begun to be explored with this age group. This study sought to add to the understanding of technology use in dating relationships by examining electronic dating violence (EDV), as well as in-person dating violence and mental health symptoms. For the study, 330 students were asked to report their experiences of EDV and in-person dating violence victimization as well as any symptoms of depression and anxiety. An exploratory factor analysis was used to better understand the measurement of EDV, and three subscales were determined: indirect, direct, and physical/sexual electronic victimization. For women, indirect and direct EDV victimization predicted depression, while only direct EDV predicted anxiety. For men, indirect EDV predicted depression. With in-person victimization, emotional aggression predicted depression and anxiety for men and women. Findings indicate a connection between EDV and mental health symptoms, and that these relationships vary by gender. Results highlight the importance of further EDV research as well as the development of intervention and prevention programming for this population.

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