The growth of mobile device access and ownership has yielded many opportunities and challenges for raising healthy digital media consumers. As adoption of mobile and internet-connected devices has increased among children, concerns for healthy child development have been expressed regarding excessive or problematic use. Although much theoretical and empirical work has been conducted evaluating adolescents' and adults' risks for dependence on various screen media (e.g., Gaming Disorder, Internet Addiction), little theoretical consideration has been expounded regarding the etiology and maintenance of problematic media use earlier in childhood (i.e., under age 12 years). The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework through which to investigate problematic media use in early childhood. Our theory, the Interactional Theory of Childhood Problematic Media Use (IT-CPU) merges developmental and clinical psychology theories, with communication and humancomputer interaction perspectives. We outline distal and proximal factors that we hypothesize contribute to the development of problematic media use in childhood, and emphasize maintaining factors that could be targets for intervention. Finally, we provide recommendations for an interdisciplinary research agenda to test our proposed theory and inform experimental trials to prevent and treat childhood problematic media use.
Children's mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet) access and ownership has grown substantially in the past decade. Concerns exist regarding excessive use and the impact of frequent consumption of mobile media on children's health and well‐being. We review the literature on the harmful physical health correlates of excessive mobile device use during childhood and adolescence. Strongest evidence emerged regarding the impact of excessive mobile device use and sleep outcomes. Mixed evidence emerged regarding excessive use of mobile devices and physical activity and obesity. Too few studies were identified to draw conclusions about mobile device use and the following health concerns in children: musculoskeletal outcomes/pain, ocular health, and migraine/headaches. Recommendations for future research on the association between excessive mobile device use and children's physical health outcomes (particularly investigations into the experience of musculoskeletal pain/discomfort, ocular symptoms, and neurological symptoms) are discussed.
Utilizing the built‐in features of smartphones, a novel app “eMoodie” (http://www.emoodie.com) was developed which passively collects information on app and smartphone/tablet usage including duration and time of use. Youth in the US and UK participated in piloting and validating eMoodie. In the first study, we evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of eMoodie in a sample of 23 parent–child dyads (N = 46), with children ages 10–12 years. Children downloaded eMoodie onto their device, which collected information on their screen time and app usage for seven consecutive days. Children responded to notifications via eMoodie to complete ecological momentary assessments (EMA) on wellbeing and digital media use. In the second study, caregiver‐child dyads participated (N = 526) in a study conducted in Edinburgh, Scotland. Early adolescents (ages 11 to 14) participated in a remote study using eMoodie involving an EMA component, questionnaires, and passive sensing data collection over a 7‐day EMA study. To examine the preliminary validity of using eMoodie, we evaluated whether app‐enabled research may alter the behavior being studied. As youth are increasingly using mobile devices, capturing objective use and evaluating the correlates of such use on development grows ever more important. Remote data capture will be essential to continuing developmental research that cannot be facilitated in face‐to‐face settings due to the ongoing pandemic. As the first empirical investigation into the utility of an app that objectively measures adolescents' smartphone use, we summarize lessons learned in implementing this novel methodology and future directions for the measurement of mobile media.
Youth with a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are more likely to develop risky health behaviors. With the increase of media use in the general population, it is likely that these high-risk youth are developing maladaptive behaviors associated with media use (i.e., problematic media use). The goals of this article are (1) to describe symptoms of problematic media use in high-risk youth and (2) to determine whether ACEs are related to problematic media use in this population. Data were collected through online questionnaires from 348 parents or legal guardians of children ages 5 to 18 years, the majority of whom had been adopted. Parents and guardians reported on the child’s history of ACEs and completed the Problematic Media Use Measure-Short Form (PMUM-SF). Almost half of the participants reported that their child had a history of four or more ACEs (48.9%). Caregivers of foster or adopted children reported more symptoms of problematic media use than those reporting on their biological children. After adjusting for covariates, the number of ACEs predicted problematic media use above and beyond variance explained by demographic factors or screen time amount. Children with a history of ACEs had higher problematic media use compared to children without ACEs.
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