Adolescent Digital Technology Interactions and Importance: Associations with Depression and Well-Being

Adolescents' digital technology use is nearly ubiquitous and has been associated with health benefits and risks, including risks of depression. The Adolescents' Digital Technology Interactions and Importance (ADTI) scale provides a novel approach to measuring how adolescents prioritize their technology use. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between adolescents' technology interactions and mental health measures, including depression and mental well-being. This cross-sectional online survey study recruited adolescents aged 12-18 years using Qualtrics panels. Survey measures included the ADTI and assessments of depression and well-being. Analyses included the Kruskal-Wallis test and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The 4,592 participants had a mean age of 15.6 years (SD = 1.68), 46.4 percent were female, 66.9 percent were Caucasian, and 74.5 percent lived in a household with an income above the poverty line. The median ADTI total score was 48 (range 18-90), 23.0 percent (n = 1,055) of participants were categorized for at risk for depression and 54.8 percent (n = 2,477) of participants were categorized as high mental well-being. Participants with higher ADTI total scores were more likely to be at risk for depression (odds ratio [OR] = 1.059, 95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 1.054-1.064). Furthermore, participants with a higher ADTI total score were more likely to have a higher mental well-being (OR = 1.015, 95 percent CI: 1.012-1.019). We found that ADTI total scores were significantly higher both among adolescents who screened positive for depression and among adolescents with higher mental well-being. This intriguing finding suggests that it is possible that digital technology use intensifies either the positive or the negative mental states that adolescents bring to their online environment.