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This longitudinal study investigated transactional relationships between violent media use and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)–related behaviors among young children (ages 4-8 years). To investigate study hypotheses, we employed a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) using structural equation modeling with panel data from 890 children. Results provided evidence in support of a media selection process rather than media effects process, whereby an increase in a child’s ADHD-related behaviors predicted an increase in the child’s violent media use 1 year later. Results indicated that this longitudinal relationship was accounted for by within-child fluctuations over time rather than stable between-child differences. The findings highlight the importance of investigating transactional relationships as well as distinguishing between-person and within-person relationships.

Whether studies should rely on parent or child reports of parental mediation remains a much-debated question. We investigated the agreement between parent and adolescent reports of the frequency and style (autonomy-supportive, controlling, inconsistent) of restrictive and active mediation, and their relative validity. Results revealed perceptual differences, with parents reporting more autonomy-supportive mediation. With some exceptions, both parent and adolescent reports correlated with relevant criterion measures. Results suggest that parent and adolescent reports are equally valid to assess the frequency and style of mediation, and that both reports should be considered to obtain a complete understanding of parents’ mediation efforts.

This study investigated the longitudinal relationship between children’s digital game use and fluid and crystallized intelligence. Specifically, this study examined whether digital games affect children’s fluid and crystallized intelligence (an effects perspective), whether children with higher levels of fluid or crystallized intelligence are more attracted to digital games (a selection perspective), or whether evidence supports a reciprocal relationship between digital game play and intelligence. Using data from 934 children aged 3 to 7 years (52% girls) across four waves with one-year intervals, our evidence for fluid intelligence indicates partial support for the effects perspective and no support for the selection perspective. For crystallized intelligence, our findings did not reveal any significant relationship with digital game use. The results suggest that digital games can move the needle for fluid intelligence, but more insight is needed to identify how this effect occurs, in which situations, and for which children this is most likely.

The diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children and adolescents has increased considerably over the past decades. Scholars and health professionals alike have expressed concern about the role of screen media in the rise in ADHD diagnosis. However, the extent to which screen media use and ADHD are linked remains a point of debate. To understand the current state of the field and, ultimately, move the field forward, we provide a systematic review of the literature on the relationship between children and adolescents' screen media use and ADHD-related behaviors (i.e., attention problems, hyperactivity, and impulsivity). Using the Differential Susceptibility to Media effects Model as a theoretical lens, we systematically organize the existing literature, identify potential shortcomings in this literature, and provide directions for future research. The available evidence suggests a statistically small relationship between media and ADHD-related behaviors. Evidence also suggests that individual child differences, such as gender and trait aggression, may moderate this relationship. There is a clear need for future research that investigates causality, underlying mechanisms, and differential susceptibility to the effects of screen media use on ADHD-related behaviors. It is only through a richer empirical body that we will be able to fully understand the media-ADHD relationship. ispartof: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vol:115 issue:40 pages:9875-9881 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The question whether social media use benefits or undermines adolescents’ well-being is an important societal concern. Previous empirical studies have mostly established across-the-board effects among (sub)populations of adolescents. As a result, it is still an open question whether the effects are unique for each individual adolescent. We sampled adolescents’ experiences six times per day for one week to quantify differences in their susceptibility to the effects of social media on their momentary affective well-being. Rigorous analyses of 2,155 real-time assessments showed that the association between social media use and affective well-being differs strongly across adolescents: While 44% did not feel better or worse after passive social media use, 46% felt better, and 10% felt worse. Our results imply that person-specific effects can no longer be ignored in research, as well as in prevention and intervention programs.

Adolescents commonly use media and communication devices during academic activities, also referred to as academic-media multitasking. Although there is evidence for the short-term effect of academic-media multitasking on academic achievement, support for its long-term effect is lacking. Therefore, we investigated the long-term relationship between academic-media multitasking and academic achievement, and the possible underlying mechanism of academic attention problems using a three-wave longitudinal study, with time intervals of 3–4 months, among 1215 adolescents (11–15 years, 52% boys). Although academic-media multitasking and academic achievement were cross-sectionally related, the findings showed neither support for a direct nor indirect long-term relationship between academic-media multitasking and subsequent academic achievement scores. However, academic-media multitasking was associated with an increase in subsequent academic attention problems. This study indicates that concerns regarding the long-term impact of academic-media multitasking on academic achievement need to be qualified.

The effect of teens’ exposure to televised aggression depends on the characteristics of the viewer and the portrayed aggression. However, few studies have investigated which teens prefer what forms of televised aggression. Therefore, this study investigated how teens’ trait aggression and sex guide their preferences for types (physical, verbal, and indirect) and contextual features of televised aggression (reward, punishment, justification, graphicness, realism, and humor). A linkage analysis combined survey data of 156 teens (balanced for trait aggression and sex, age 10-14 years) with a content analysis of 4,839 scenes from their favorite television programs. Aggressive teens preferred more physical aggression than less aggressive teens. Trait aggression was not related to preferences for contextual features of aggression. Boys preferred more physical aggression than girls, as well as more realistic, graphic, justified, rewarded, and punished aggression. This study underscores the importance of distinguishing between different viewers and forms of televised aggression.

The increase in media multitasking among adolescents has raised concerns regarding its possible negative impact on sleep. Although cross-sectional studies have found a relationship between media multitasking and sleep problems, knowledge about the causal direction is lacking. In a first step to understand causality, we examined the longitudinal relationship between media multitasking and sleep problems among 1443 adolescents (7th and 8th graders, 11–15 years, 51% boys), who completed a questionnaire three times at three-to-four month intervals. We employed random intercept cross-lagged panel models, which specifically examine cross-lagged correlations within (rather than between) individuals. The findings showed no cross-lagged correlations for the overall sample. However, the results indicated that, for 7th graders and girls, media multitasking was (marginally) related to more subsequent sleep problems. Our findings provide first evidence that media multitasking may affect the sleep of 7th graders and girls.

Touchscreen applications (apps) for young children have seen increasingly high rates of growth with more than a hundred thousand now available apps. As with other media, parents play a key role in young children's app selection and use. However, to date, we know very little about how parents select apps for their children. Guided by uses and gratification theory, a survey was conducted with 600 Dutch parents who had at least one child between three and seven years old. Across two studies, we identified parents' most important needs that drive their selection of children's apps as well as the extent to which these needs differ by parenting style. Results indicate five overarching parental needs when it comes to children's apps, and confirm that these needs vary by parenting style. Findings offer important insight into how parents select apps for their children. Parents have five primary needs when it comes to apps for their children (3-7).These parental needs vary by parenting style.Parents place the greatest priority on apps that entertain and support autonomy.

Cognitive, emotional, and arousal responses to violent games play a central role in theoretical explanations of how violent media may affect aggression. However, existing research has focused on a relatively narrow range of responses to violent games in experimental settings. This limits our understanding of whether and how violent game-induced responses relate to aggression in real life. To address these gaps, this study investigated how cognitive effort, emotional valence, and arousal in response to violent games relate to early adolescents' aggression, both cross-sectionally and over a period of one year. In addition, we investigated how a social context variable (i.e., family conflict) predicts these responses to violent games and subsequent aggression. A sample of 448 early adolescents (10-14 years) completed survey questions and media diaries that measured their responses to violent games. Results showed that, outside the lab, a positive cross-sectional relationship between violent game-induced arousal and aggression exists. In addition, arousal mediated the relationship between family conflict and aggression. Study findings justify increased research attention to media responses outside the lab and a need for further theoretical and methodological refinement. We examined youths' responses to violent games using surveys and media diaries.Cross-sectionally, self-reported arousal was positively related to aggression.Arousal mediated between family conflict and aggression.Cognitive effort was negatively related to aggression in cross-sectional analyses.No longitudinal relationships were found between game responses and aggression.

The goal of this review was to systematize empirical research that was published in peer-reviewed English-language journals between 1995 and 2015 on the prevalence, predictors, and implications of adolescents’ use of pornography. This research showed that adolescents use pornography, but prevalence rates varied greatly. Adolescents who used pornography more frequently were male, at a more advanced pubertal stage, sensation seekers, and had weak or troubled family relations. Pornography use was associated with more permissive sexual attitudes and tended to be linked with stronger gender-stereotypical sexual beliefs. It also seemed to be related to the occurrence of sexual intercourse, greater experience with casual sex behavior, and more sexual aggression, both in terms of perpetration and victimization. The findings of this review need to be seen against the background of various methodological and theoretical shortcomings, as well as several biases in the literature, which currently precludes internally valid causal conclusions about effects of pornography on adolescents.

The first aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between adolescents' use of social network sites (SNSs) and their social self-esteem. The second aim was to investigate whether the valence of the feedback that adolescents receive on SNSs can explain these relationships. We conducted a three-wave panel study among 852 pre- and early adolescents (10–15 years old). In line with earlier research, we found significant concurrent correlations between adolescents' SNS use and their social self-esteem in all three data waves. The longitudinal results only partly confirmed these concurrent findings: Adolescents' initial SNS use did not significantly influence their social self-esteem in subsequent years. In contrast, their initial social self-esteem consistently influenced their SNS use in subsequent years. The valence of online feedback from close friends and acquaintances explained the concurrent relationship between SNS use and social self-esteem, but not the longitudinal relationship. Results are discussed in terms of their methodological and theoretical implications., Highlights • Social self-esteem (SSE) longitudinally predicts higher SNS use. • SNS use marginally predicts over-time improvements in SSE. • Feedback from friends and acquaintances explains the concurrent SNS-SSE relation. • Feedback from friends leads to over-time improvements in SSE. • Feedback from acquaintances does not result in over-time changes in SSE.

Previous research with adolescents has reported a negative relationship between media violence and empathy. There are, however, two important conceptual issues in this earlier literature that deserve further research attention. First, studies often treat empathy as a one-dimensional construct while it consists of both an affective and cognitive component. Second, while aiming to measure empathy, several studies have measured sympathy instead. Driven by these concerns, this study was designed to investigate the longitudinal relationship between media violence, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and sympathy. Using data from a two-wave panel study with 943 adolescents (10–14 years old), a cross-lagged model tested whether media violence exposure negatively influences empathy and sympathy (desensitization) or whether empathy and sympathy negatively influence media violence exposure (selection). Results were in line with desensitization. However, rather than showing that media violence leads to a decrease in empathy (which previous studies have shown), results indicate a decrease in sympathy instead. These findings provide clarification to existing work as well as offer methodological and practical implications.

There is growing evidence that social media addiction is an evolving problem, particularly among adolescents. However, the absence of an instrument measuring social media addiction hinders further development of the research field. The present study, therefore, aimed to test the reliability and validity of a short and easy to administer Social Media Disorder (SMD) Scale that contains a clear diagnostic cut-off point to distinguish between disordered (i.e. addicted) and high-engaging non-disordered social media users.Three online surveys were conducted among a total of 2198 Dutch adolescents aged 10 to 17. The 9-item scale showed solid structural validity, appropriate internal consistency, good convergent and criterion validity, sufficient test-retest reliability, and satisfactory sensitivity and specificity. In sum, this study generated evidence that the short 9-item scale is a psychometrically sound and valid instruments to measure SMD. The 9-item Social Media Disorder (SMD) Scale is a psychometrically sound instrument.The development of the 9-item SMD-scale was based on the 9 DSM-5 criteria for IGD.The 9-item SMD-scale shows appropriate internal consistency and test-retest reliability.The 9-item SMD-scale demonstrates good convergent and criterion validity.The 9-item SMD-scale shows adequate sensitivity and good specificity.