Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41660759›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of methods in psychiatric research2026

'Digital Insight and Agency Scale' (DIAS): A Novel Tool to Illuminate Young People's Agency in Mitigating the Negative Impact of Digital Activities on Their Mental Health.

P Tang, K Kostyrka-Allchorne, J Bourgaize, A Murray, M Stoilova, M E Etherson, E Azeri, I Abbas, A Bridgwood, C Hollis and 4 more

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Article in International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

P TangDepartment of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
K Kostyrka-AllchorneDepartment of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
J BourgaizeDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
A MurraySchool of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
M StoilovaDepartment of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
M E EthersonSchool of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
E AzeriDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
I AbbasDepartment of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
A BridgwoodEast London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
C HollisNational Institute of Health Research (NIHR) MindTech MedTech Research Centre, Institute of Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
E TownsendSchool of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
S LivingstoneDepartment of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
E 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

UK Research and Innovation MR/W002450/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesExcessive time spent online is believed to negatively impact youth mental health; however, simplified screen-time measures fail to consider young people's agency and digital activity management skills. We developed and validated a novel tool, the Digital Insight and Agency Scale (DIAS), to better understand different aspects of young people's online agency and explore their links to youth mental health.

methodsParticipants (n = 383; age 16-25 years, mean = 19.0, SD = 1.7; 48.8% White, 30.2% South/East Asian, 8.6% Black) completed the DIAS questionnaire and standardised measures of anxiety, depression and wellbeing. The factor structure, reliability of the DIAS and associations with mental health were examined.

resultsParticipants reported specific negative impacts of digital engagement on their daily functioning in the previous 2 weeks, especially less sleep. Seventy-eight per cent were worried about the negative impact of digital activity, and 82% engaged in one or more risk management actions, including Enhancing Positive Engagement, Coping Actions, and/or Reducing Engagement. Higher levels of mental health problems were associated with more worries and increased efforts to manage digital activity.

conclusionsMost young people displayed agency in managing their digital activity, suggesting that this could be leveraged in interventions, rather than focusing solely on reducing access and time spent online.

Indexed as

AnxietyDepressionMental HealthPsychometricsAdolescentAdultDigital MediaFemaleHumansMaleReproducibility of ResultsSense of AgencyYoung Adultadolescenceagencyanxietycopingdepressiondigital risk perception and management

Identifiers

PMID41660759
PMCPMC12884440

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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.