Problem 6 – Young and Digital
In depth questions:
1. Have another look at part A of the problem. Given the evidence you have read about in
the article of Przybylski (2017), what would be your practical advice to parents in limiting
screen time for their adolescent kids?
2. Have another look at part B of the problem. Given the evidence you have read about in
the articles by Verduyn (2017) and Vannucci (2017), who do you think is more ‘right’
about the effects of social media on our well-being, Mark Zuckerberg, or Daisy Ridley?
3. In their review article, Verduyn and colleagues (2017) have classified the studies they
discuss based on their research design: cross-sectional, longitudinal, or experimental.
How would you characterize the design from the single studies by Vannucci (2017) and
by Przybylski (2017)? What implication does the design have for the kind of conclusions
you can draw from these two studies? And how would you design a follow-up study to
get stronger evidence for a causal link between social media use/screen time and
anxiety/well-being?
4. In their conclusion, George and Odgers (2015) write that digital technologies, if used
properly, may also have very positive effects on adolescents’ well-being. Given the
findings from the different articles, could you think of examples of how technology use
could also be used to benefit well-being?
NOTES
George, M. J., & Odgers, C. L. (2015). Seven (7) fears and the
science of how mobile technologies may be influencing
adolescents in the digital age. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 10, 832–851.
AIM: a review to examine the 7 most commonly voiced fears about the influence of mobile
technologies on adolescents’ safety, social development, cognitive performance, sleep
The selection of the 7 fears is based on:
a) Results from large-scale surveys of parents detailing aspects of new technologies that
concern parents the most
- Online safety is the parents’ primary concern (meet a stranger online, cyberbullying)
, - Another concern → children’s management of reputation online
- Another concern → not being able to keep pace and monitor online behavior and
safety
b) In-depth interviews with parents of adolescents participating in our own studies of
adolescents using their mobile phones
c) A review of recent media coverage related to adolescents’ use of new technologies
- Concerns about cyberbullying
- Fears that time spent on devices is interfering with adolescents’ ability to develop
effective social and relationship skills
- Concerns that multitasking on devices is impairing cognitive performance
- Claims that device usage us causing adolescents to lose sleep
→ although many fears were expressed through media this review focused on the overlap
between media and parents’ concerns!
In depth questions:
1. Have another look at part A of the problem. Given the evidence you have read about in
the article of Przybylski (2017), what would be your practical advice to parents in limiting
screen time for their adolescent kids?
2. Have another look at part B of the problem. Given the evidence you have read about in
the articles by Verduyn (2017) and Vannucci (2017), who do you think is more ‘right’
about the effects of social media on our well-being, Mark Zuckerberg, or Daisy Ridley?
3. In their review article, Verduyn and colleagues (2017) have classified the studies they
discuss based on their research design: cross-sectional, longitudinal, or experimental.
How would you characterize the design from the single studies by Vannucci (2017) and
by Przybylski (2017)? What implication does the design have for the kind of conclusions
you can draw from these two studies? And how would you design a follow-up study to
get stronger evidence for a causal link between social media use/screen time and
anxiety/well-being?
4. In their conclusion, George and Odgers (2015) write that digital technologies, if used
properly, may also have very positive effects on adolescents’ well-being. Given the
findings from the different articles, could you think of examples of how technology use
could also be used to benefit well-being?
NOTES
George, M. J., & Odgers, C. L. (2015). Seven (7) fears and the
science of how mobile technologies may be influencing
adolescents in the digital age. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 10, 832–851.
AIM: a review to examine the 7 most commonly voiced fears about the influence of mobile
technologies on adolescents’ safety, social development, cognitive performance, sleep
The selection of the 7 fears is based on:
a) Results from large-scale surveys of parents detailing aspects of new technologies that
concern parents the most
- Online safety is the parents’ primary concern (meet a stranger online, cyberbullying)
, - Another concern → children’s management of reputation online
- Another concern → not being able to keep pace and monitor online behavior and
safety
b) In-depth interviews with parents of adolescents participating in our own studies of
adolescents using their mobile phones
c) A review of recent media coverage related to adolescents’ use of new technologies
- Concerns about cyberbullying
- Fears that time spent on devices is interfering with adolescents’ ability to develop
effective social and relationship skills
- Concerns that multitasking on devices is impairing cognitive performance
- Claims that device usage us causing adolescents to lose sleep
→ although many fears were expressed through media this review focused on the overlap
between media and parents’ concerns!
