Moreno Megan A, Binger Kole, Zhao Qianqian, Eickhoff Jens, Minich Matt, Uhls Yalda Tehranian
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2022 May 4;5(2):e35540. doi: 10.2196/35540.
Digital technology and media use is integral to adolescents' lives and has been associated with both positive and negative health consequences. Previous studies have largely focused on understanding technology behaviors and outcomes within adolescent populations, which can promote assumptions about adolescent technology use as homogeneous. Furthermore, many studies on adolescent technology use have focused on risks and negative outcomes. To better understand adolescent digital technology use, we need new approaches that can assess distinct profiles within study populations and take a balanced approach to understanding the risks and benefits of digital technology use.
The purpose of this study was to identify profiles of adolescent technology use within a large study population focusing on four evidence-based constructs: technology ownership and use, parental involvement, health outcomes, and well-being indicators.
Adolescent-parent dyads were recruited for a cross-sectional web-based survey using the Qualtrics (Qualtrics International, Inc) platform and panels. Technology use measures included ownership of devices, social media use frequency, and the Adolescents' Digital Technology Interactions and Importance scale. Parent involvement measures included household media rules, technology-related parenting practices, parent social media use frequency, and the parent-child relationship. Health outcome measures included physical activity, sleep, problematic internet use, and mental health assessments. Well-being indicators included mental wellness, communication, and empathy. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify distinct profile groups across the aforementioned 4 critical constructs.
Among the 3981 adolescent-parent dyads recruited, adolescent participants had a mean age of 15.0 (SD 1.43) years; a total of 46.3% (1842/3981) were female, 67.8% (2701/3981) were White, and 75% (2986/3981) lived in a household with an income above the poverty line. The LCA identified 2 discrete classes. Class 1 was made up of 62.8% (2501/3981) of the participants. Class 1 participants were more likely than Class 2 participants to report family-owned devices, have lower technology importance scores, have household technology rules often centered on content, have positive parent relationships and lower parent social media use, and report better health outcomes and well-being indicators.
Findings from this national cross-sectional survey using LCA led to 2 distinct profile groups of adolescent media use and their association with technology use and parent involvement as well as health and well-being outcomes. The two classes included a larger Class 1 (Family-Engaged Adolescents) and a smaller Class 2 (At-Risk Adolescents). The findings of this study can inform interventions to reinforce positive technology use and family support.
数字技术和媒体使用是青少年生活中不可或缺的一部分，并且与积极和消极的健康后果都相关。以往的研究主要集中在理解青少年群体中的技术行为和结果，这可能会促使人们认为青少年的技术使用是同质化的。此外，许多关于青少年技术使用的研究都集中在风险和负面结果上。为了更好地理解青少年的数字技术使用情况，我们需要新的方法来评估研究人群中的不同特征，并采取平衡的方法来理解数字技术使用的风险和益处。
本研究的目的是在一个大型研究人群中识别青少年技术使用的特征，重点关注四个基于证据的构建：技术拥有和使用、家长参与、健康结果和幸福感指标。
使用Qualtrics（Qualtrics国际公司）平台和面板招募青少年-家长二元组进行基于网络的横断面调查。技术使用测量包括设备拥有情况、社交媒体使用频率以及青少年数字技术互动和重要性量表。家长参与测量包括家庭媒体规则、与技术相关的育儿实践、家长社交媒体使用频率以及亲子关系。健康结果测量包括身体活动、睡眠、问题性互联网使用和心理健康评估。幸福感指标包括心理幸福感、沟通和同理心。我们使用潜在类别分析（LCA）来识别上述4个关键构建中的不同特征组。
在招募的3981个青少年-家长二元组中，青少年参与者的平均年龄为15.0（标准差1.43）岁；共有46.3%（1842/3981）为女性，67.8%（2701/3981）为白人，75%（2986/3981）生活在收入高于贫困线的家庭中。LCA识别出2个离散类别。第1类由62.8%（2501/3981）的参与者组成。与第2类参与者相比，第1类参与者更有可能报告家庭拥有的设备，技术重要性得分较低，家庭技术规则通常以内容为中心，拥有积极的亲子关系且家长社交媒体使用较少，并报告更好的健康结果和幸福感指标。
这项使用LCA的全国横断面调查结果导致了青少年媒体使用的2个不同特征组，以及它们与技术使用、家长参与以及健康和幸福感结果的关联。这两个类别包括较大的第1类（家庭参与型青少年）和较小的第2类（有风险的青少年）。本研究的结果可为加强积极的技术使用和家庭支持的干预措施提供信息。
