ArticleClinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science2021
There is no evidence that associations between adolescents' digital technology engagement and mental health problems have increased.
Article in Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- The representation of adolescent social media use: a systematic review and content analysis of UK newspaper articles.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- An integrative literature review of birth cohort and time period trends in adolescent depression in the United States.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Understanding Social Media Literacy: A Systematic Review of the Concept and Its Competences.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Psychological and Emotional Effects of Digital Technology on Digitods (14-18 Years): A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Smartphone screen time reduction improves mental health: a randomized controlled trial.BMC medicine · 2025Trial
- Longitudinal effect of early social media use on standardized learning outcomes during school career.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
- Suicidal Ideation, Screen Time, and Online Harassment Among College Students: Gender Differences in a National Survey, United States, 2023-2024.American journal of public health · 2026Article
- Adolescent social media use and psychiatric outcomes: a longitudinal mediation analysis via interpersonal distrust, sleep, and self-image.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Psychometric properties of the Arabic Perceived Digital Well-Being Scale (PDWS) in Saudi young adults.PloS one · 2026Article
- The temperature of connection: psychological mechanisms and happiness generation in AI-enabled neighborhoods.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Measuring minds across generations: a theoretical framework on psychometric validity, interpretive frameworks, and contextual norming in cross-cohort psychological research.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Problematic gaming in occasional, low, intermediate or heavy use gamers - not all screen time is created equal - A reanalysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Problematic Internet Use and Psychological Distress in High School Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Screen time, problematic media use, and clinical concerns in the ABCD Study: Differences by sex and race/ethnicity.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Relationships between problematic binge-watching behavior with psychological and social states.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Digital measures of activity and motivation impact depression and anxiety in the real world.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- Emotional Health of Immigrant Adolescents by a Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis: Self-Esteem and Depression.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Examining the Impact of Digital Detox Interventions on Anxiety and Depression Levels Among Young Adults.Cureus · 2024Article
- Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Relationships between depression, anxiety, and motivation in the real-world: Effects of physical activity and screentime.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Digital technology is ubiquitous in modern adolescence, and researchers are concerned that it has negative impacts on mental health that, furthermore, increase over time. To investigate if technology is becoming more harmful, we examined changes in associations between technology engagement and mental health in three nationally representative samples. Results were mixed across types of technology and mental health outcomes: Technology engagement had become less strongly associated with depression in the past decade, but social media use more strongly associated with emotional problems. We detected no changes in five other associations, or differential associations by gender. There is therefore little evidence for increases in the associations between adolescents' technology engagement and mental health. Information about new digital media has been collected for a relatively short time; drawing firm conclusions about changes in their associations with mental health may be premature. We urge transparent and credible collaborations between scientists and technology companies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.