Psychological topics, Vol. 33 No. 1, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31820/pt.33.1.1
Is There a Longitudinal Effect of Different Types of Digital Technology Use on Preadolescents’ Subjective Well-Being?
Marina Kotrla Topić
orcid.org/0000-0001-9829-3056
; Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Andreja Brajša-Žganec
; Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
Maja Kućar
; Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
Marija Džida
; Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
Tihana Brkljačić
; Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This study aims to explore the possibility of predicting changes in preadolescents’ subjective well-being (SWB) indicators, namely life satisfaction (LS), positive (PA) and negative affect (NA), based on how often they engage in different activities using digital technology (DT). Exploratory, it examines whether gender and age moderate links between DT usage and well-being. The study is conducted using self-report measures at two time points, with one year apart. Participants were 1379 elementary school pupils from Croatia (48% were boys), aged from 8 to 13 (M = 11.03, SD = 1.14) at the first time point. LS was assessed using BMSLSS (Seligson et al., 2003). PA and NA were assessed using PANAS-C scale (Ebesutani et al., 2012). Finally, participants indicated how often they engage in different activities using digital technology: use of social media (using social networks, texting with friends, posting online), playing video games, and watching TV. Only social media use predicted a small decrease in LS one year later. Different types of DT use did not predict changes in PA. These models were the same for boys and girls, and for younger and older preadolescents. Changes in NA were not related to any of the DT predictors. However, differential effects were observed for boys and girls with playing video games emerging as a positive predictor of NA for girls only. All observed effects were very small. These findings point to the importance of evaluating individual contribution of different activities that preadolescents engage in with the use of digital technology to their SWB.
Keywords
well-being; digital technology; adolescents; positive and negative affect; longitudinal design
Hrčak ID:
316325
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2024.
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