How technology use affects at-risk adolescents
"Also, on days at-risk adolescents use technology more, they experience more conduct problems and higher ADHD symptoms compared to days they use technology less," said Madeleine J. George, a Duke Ph.D. candidate and the lead author of the study. However, the study also found that using technology was linked to some positive outcomes: On days when adolescents spent more time using digital technologies they were less likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety. The research, published May 3 in a special issue of Child Development , looks at associations between adolescents' mental health symptoms and how much time they spent each day texting, using social media and using the Internet. For the study, 151 young adolescents completed surveys on smartphones about their daily digital technology use. They were surveyed three times a day for a month and were assessed for mental health symptoms 18 months later. The youth participating were between 11 and 15 years o...