ArticleBMC public health2024
Associations between problem technology use, life stress, and self-esteem among high school students.
Article in BMC public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of digital addiction on youth health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Pooled it
- Behaviour patterns on social media and their associations with cognitive, social and emotional skills in university students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Active Child, Accomplished Youth: Middle Childhood Active Leisure Fuels Academic Success by Emerging Adulthood.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAdolescence is a critical period for development, with many risk factors resulting in long-term health consequences, particularly regarding mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between problem technology use, life stress, and self-esteem in a representative sample of adolescents residing in Ontario, Canada.
methodsSelf-reported data were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 4,748 students (57.9% females) in grades 9 to 12 (mean age: 15.9 ± 1.3 years) who participated in the 2019 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. Problem technology use was measured using the 6-item Short Problem Internet Use Test, life stress was assessed using an item from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey and self-esteem was assessed using a global measure from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Ordinal logistic regression models were adjusted for age, sex, ethnoracial background, subjective socioeconomic status, body mass index z-score, tobacco cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and cannabis use.
resultsWe found that 18.3% of participants reported symptoms of moderate-to-high problem technology use, although symptoms were more common in females than males (22% vs. 14.7%, respectively). Moderate-to-high problem technology use was associated with 2.04 (95% CI: 1.77-2.35) times higher odds of reporting high life stress and 2.08 (95% CI: 1.76-2.45) times higher odds of reporting low self-esteem compared to all other response options.
conclusionsFindings from this study show that problem technology use is strongly associated with higher life stress and lower self-esteem in adolescents. This study supports the importance of developing and implementing effective strategies that help to mitigate the adverse effects of problem technology use on adolescent mental health.
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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.