Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40526710›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of methods in psychiatric research2025

Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI).

Katarzyna Kostyrka-Allchorne, Jake Bourgaize, Aja Murray, Mariya Stoilova, Iqra Abbas, Amy Bridgwood, Eliz Azeri, Chris Hollis, Ellen Townsend, Sonia Livingstone and 2 more

Erratum issuedAbstract readValidation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Constructs, Predictive Factors and Measures: Insights From the Mental Health in the Moment (MHIM) Co-Production Panel.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Katarzyna Kostyrka-AllchorneDepartment of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Jake BourgaizeDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Aja MurraySchool of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Mariya StoilovaDepartment of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
Iqra AbbasDepartment of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Amy BridgwoodDepartment of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Eliz AzeriDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Chris HollisNational Institute of Health Research (NIHR) MindTech MedTech Research Centre, Institute of Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Ellen TownsendSchool of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Sonia LivingstoneDepartment of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
Edmund J S Sonuga-BarkeDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Digital Youth Research Programme

Funding

Maudsley Biomedical Research CentreMedical Research Council MR/ W002450/1National Institute for Health and Care Research
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesWe created the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) to measure youth digital activities and the psychological reactions they evoke, established its psychometric properties and tested its validity in predicting mental health relative to screen time estimates.

methodsAn initial pool of items was generated using the existing research on youth digital activity and mental health and further refined via consultations with experts and young people (online youth panel sessions, n = 14). The participants (n = 383, mean age = 19 years) completed the resulting DAFI alongside established measures of depression, anxiety, wellbeing, and screen time. The DAFI factor structure, reliability and predictive validity were tested.

resultsExploratory factor analyses identified five digital activity subscales: Risky Content, Risky Interactions, Social Comparison, Leisure Activities and Social Engagement and three psychological reactions subscales: Negative Self-Reactions, Negative Stress Reactions, and Positive Reactions. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high. Social Comparison and Negative Self-Reactions, but not screen time, independently predicted depression and anxiety symptoms. Positive Reactions, lack of Negative Self-Reactions, lower screen time and Social Engagement predicted wellbeing.

conclusionThe DAFI is a reliable measure of digital activities and associated psychological reactions and predicts youth mental health better than screen time.

Indexed as

AnxietyDepressionMental HealthPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesPsychometricsScreen TimeAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleReproducibility of ResultsYoung Adultadolescentdigital activitymental healthscreen timewellbeing

Identifiers

PMID40526710
PMCPMC12173090

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Registered trials

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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.