This study examines whether 388 adolescents’ digital technology use is associated with mental-health symptoms during early adolescence to midadolescence. Adolescents completed an initial Time 1 (T1) assessment in 2015, followed by a 14-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) via mobile phone in 2016–2017 that yielded 13,017 total observations over 5,270 study days. Adolescents’ T1 technology use did not predict later mental-health symptoms. Adolescents’ reported mental health was also not worse on days when they reported spending more versus less time on technology. Little was found to support daily quadratic associations (whereby adolescent mental health was worse on days with little or excessive use). Adolescents at higher risk for mental-health problems also exhibited no signs of increased risk for mental-health problems on higher technology use days. Findings from this EMA study do not support the narrative that young adolescents’ digital technology usage is associated with elevated mental-health symptoms.
Objectives: Racial-ethnic minority youth face multiple types of victimization associated with negative developmental outcomes. The present study examined the interplay of youth experiences of online and offline bullying/harassment and racial-ethnic discrimination across three waves. Methods: Racial-ethnic minority adolescents aged 10-19 (N = 735) at Midwest schools were surveyed yearly on Internet usage and experiences, mental well-being, and related risk and protective factors. We analyzed offline and online bullying/harassment, offline and online racial-ethnic discrimination, and time online in an autoregressive cross-lagged panel model. Results: Youth who reported more of one type of victimization also reported more of other victimization types and more time online concurrently. Our results show some (but not consistent) influences over time. Youth who experienced more offline bullying/harassment at wave 1 were more likely to report more wave 2 victimization in another context (online bullying/harassment) and in other content (offline racial-ethnic discrimination), although these associations did not appear in the second wave. Youth who reported more online bullying/harassment at wave 2 also experienced increased risk for offline bullying/harassment at wave 3. Youth who reported more time online were not more likely to experience later victimization, though youth who experienced more wave 1 offline bullying/harassment were more likely to report more next-wave time online. Conclusions: Racial-ethnic minority youth simultaneously and persistently face multiple types of victimization. Offline bullying/harassment interventions may have the added benefit of reducing other forms of victimization down the road, while reducing time online alone is unlikely to protect youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).