Article Text
Abstract
Objectives This scoping review aims to facilitate psychometric developments in the field of digital media usage and well-being in young people by (1) identifying core concepts in the area of “screen time” and digital media use in children, adolescents, and young adults, (2) synthesising existing research paradigms and measurement tools that quantify these dimensions, and (3) highlighting important areas of need to guide future measure development.
Design A scoping review of 140 sources (126 database, 14 grey literature) published between 2014 and 2019 yielded 162 measurement tools across a range of domains, users, and cultures. Database sources from Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Scopus were extracted, in addition to grey literature obtained from knowledge experts and organisations relevant to digital media use in children. To be included, the source had to: (1) be an empirical investigation or present original research, (2) investigate a sample/target population that included children or young persons between the ages of 0 and 25 years of age, and (3) include at least one assessment method for measuring digital media use. Reviews, editorials, letters, comments and animal model studies were all excluded.
Measures Basic information, level of risk of bias, study setting, paradigm, data type, digital media type, device, usage characteristics, applications or websites, sample characteristics, recruitment methods, measurement tool information, reliability and validity.
Results Significant variability in nomenclature surrounding problematic use and criteria for identifying clinical impairment was discovered. Moreover, there was a paucity of measures in key domains, including tools for young children, whole families, disadvantaged groups, and for certain patterns and types of usage.
Conclusion This knowledge synthesis exercise highlights the need for the widespread development and implementation of comprehensive, multi-method, multilevel, and multi-informant measurement suites.
- mental health
- paediatrics
- community child health
- child & adolescent psychiatry
- public health
Data availability statement
Data are available on reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information. Relevant data are included as online supplemental information. Extended data available by request.
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
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Data availability statement
Data are available on reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information. Relevant data are included as online supplemental information. Extended data available by request.
Supplementary materials
Supplementary Data
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Footnotes
SSM and LC are joint senior authors.
Collaborators The MIST Working Group: Daphne Bavelier, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Florence Breslin, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, USA; Joanne Broder, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, USA; Zsolt Demetrovics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; John Hutton, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, USA; Jessica Mendoza, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA; Jaysree Roberts, NYC Health + Hospitals, Kings County, New York, USA; Thomas Robinson, Stanford University, Stanford, USA; Cris Rowan, Zone'in Programs Inc., Sechelt, Canada; Oren Shefet, Suny Old Westbury, Old Westbury, New York; Tim Smith, Birkbeck University of London, Birkbeck, London; Rachel Waxman, NYC Health + Hospitals/ Kings County, New York, USA; Paul Weigle AACAP/Natchaug Hospital, Mansfield, USA.
Contributors DTB obtained funding, conceptualised the research, oversaw data collection and analyses, and edited the manuscript. SSMay conceptualised the research, conducted data collection and analyses, drafted and edited the manuscript. LC conducted data collection and analyses, drafted and edited the manuscript. PH-DP obtained funding, conceptualised the research, and edited the manuscript. DC, TA, LH, KD-H, JAE, AGF, SMad, GP, H-JR, DT, SU, JS, RN, HP conceptualised the research and edited the manuscript. The MIST Working Group conceptualised the research and edited the manuscript. All authors were involved in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication and approved the final manuscript.
Funding Funding for this research project was provided by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development (grant/award number: not applicable). The project was conceptualized, stewarded, and funded by Children and Screens as part of an effort to develop a Media Impact Screening Toolkit for clinicians and researchers; as such, Dr. PHDP (fourth author) represents the organization as an active member of the article authorship team.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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