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The internet, screens and the online world are ubiquitous in the lives of children and adolescents today. While there may be many benefits to the entertainment, connectivity and access to information they provide, there is also concern about the possible ill effects of these technologies. This extends beyond exposure to harmful content, and includes the effect on cognitive development, mental and physical health, sleep, the development of social skills and behaviour. While teachers, clinicians, and parents report observing these effects at an individual level, correlation is not causation. It can be hard to know, for example, if emotional or mental health difficulties lead to increased screen time, or vice versa.
As this issue of the research digest outlines, the effects of digital technology on children are not well understood. Although there is published guidance from health bodies and governments on their use, there is no general consensus, and there are many vested interests. It is a notably divergent field of research, due in part to the fact that researchers originate from different fields - physical health, mental health and neuroscience - each considering impact differently. For example, the link between overuse of digital technology and childhood obesity is of great concern, and many of the studies included below report body mass index as a measure.
This issue of the research digest is split into five sections. The first looks at articles related to the effect of technology on cognitive development. Firth et al. explore how the online world may be influencing our attentional capacities, memory processes, and social cognition, while Alho, Moisala & Salmela-Aro look at both the positive and negative effects of media multi-tasking and video gaming on cognitive functions in adolescents and young adults.
The following two sections include the abstracts of research articles focussing on the effect of social media, and screen time on children and adolescents’ menta