Longitudinal Effects of Adolescent Digital Media Use on Mental Health in Young Adulthood.

Caroline S Watson, Christopher C Henrich, Dustin M Long, Aaron D Fobian

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Caroline S WatsonDepartment of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.

Christopher C HenrichDepartment of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.

Dustin M LongDepartment of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5423-4481

Aaron D FobianDepartment of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9974-8534

Funding

Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases K23DK106570

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesResearch on the relationship between digital media use in adolescence and mental health outcomes in young adulthood remains unclear. This study aims to (1) assess how trajectories of digital media use from adolescence to young adulthood predict mental health outcomes and (2) identify factors in adolescence that contribute to digital media use trajectories.

methodsParticipants (M

resultsFour trajectory groups emerged: Group 1 "increase" (9.97%), Group 2 "low" (73.36%), Group 3 "decrease" (13.94%), and Group 4 "high" (2.73%). Individuals in Group 4 experienced decreased short-term memory compared to individuals in Group 2. The odds of a suicide attempt in the past 12 months were significantly higher for individuals in Groups 3 and 4 compared to Group 2.

conclusionsPatterns of digital media use from adolescence to young adulthood may contribute to suicide attempts and short-term memory in young adulthood, highlighting the need for interventions to reduce screen time. Non-significant findings highlight the need for additional research aimed at clarifying these relationships and identifying factors in early adolescence that may contribute to digital media use trajectories.

Indexed as

adolescentmedia exposuremental healthyoung adulthood

Identifiers

PMID41749571

DOI10.3390/children13020215

PMCPMC12939666

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY

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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.