University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work, United States.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, United States.
J Affect Disord. 2021 Jun 1;288:145-147. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.008. Epub 2021 Apr 20.
Research suggests that the disruptions introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased psychological distress and time spent on digital technology among young people, thus intensifying pre-pandemic concerns regarding the putative effects of digital technology use on mental health. To robustly examine whether increases in digital technology use are associated with increases in psychological distress during the pandemic it is crucial to (1) collect objective data on digital technology use and (2) account for potential confounding caused by pandemic-related stressors.
We conducted a four-wave panel study of U.S. young adults (N=384; M = 24.5 ± 5.1; 57% female) from August-November of 2020. Participants provided screenshots of their iPhone "Screen Time" application and completed measures assessing current mental health status (depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation) and pandemic-related impacts on well-being. We used random-intercept multilevel models to examine the within- and between-person associations between mental health, objective digital technology use, and pandemic-related stressors.
Multilevel analyses revealed that none of the objectively-measured digital technology use variables were positively associated with depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation at the within- or between-person levels. In contrast, pandemic-related impacts on mental health had by far the largest effects on depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.
The convenience-based sample and use of single-item measures of pandemic-related impacts are limitations of the study.
Current speculations about the direct harms of digital technology use on mental health may be unfounded and risk diverting attention from a more likely cause: pandemic-related distress.
研究表明，COVID-19 大流行带来的干扰导致年轻人的心理困扰和数字技术使用时间增加，从而加剧了人们对数字技术使用对心理健康可能产生的影响的担忧。为了稳健地检验在大流行期间数字技术使用的增加是否与心理困扰的增加有关，至关重要的是（1）收集关于数字技术使用的客观数据，以及（2）考虑与大流行相关的压力源造成的潜在混杂。
我们对美国年轻人（N=384；M=24.5±5.1；57%为女性）进行了一项四波面板研究，时间为 2020 年 8 月至 11 月。参与者提供了他们 iPhone“屏幕时间”应用程序的屏幕截图，并完成了评估当前心理健康状况（抑郁、焦虑和自杀意念）和大流行对幸福感影响的措施。我们使用随机截距多层模型来检验心理健康、客观数字技术使用和与大流行相关的压力源之间的个体内和个体间关联。
多层次分析显示，在个体内和个体间水平上，没有一个客观测量的数字技术使用变量与抑郁、焦虑或自杀意念呈正相关。相比之下，与大流行相关的心理健康影响对抑郁、焦虑和自杀意念的影响最大。
基于便利的样本和使用单一项目衡量与大流行相关的影响是该研究的局限性。
目前关于数字技术使用对心理健康的直接危害的推测可能没有根据，并且可能会转移注意力，使其偏离更有可能的原因：与大流行相关的压力。
