Screen-time exposure and modality-specific working memory capacity in adolescents

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Adolescent Development
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Adolescents extensively use electronic devices for various purposes.
• Excessive screen time may negatively impact working memory (WM), crucial for cognitive function.
• The effects of active (AST) versus background screen time (BST) on modality-specific WM in adolescents are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between different types of screen time (AST and BST) and working memory capacity in adolescents.
• To explore modality-specific effects of screen engagement on working memory performance.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 81 adolescents aged 13-16 years.
• Working memory was assessed using auditory reverse digit span (ARDS), visual reverse digit span (VRDS), and Corsi backward (CB) tasks.
• Screen time data were collected through parental and self-reports.

Main Results:

• Adolescents exhibited higher AST than BST exposure.
• Higher AST was associated with improved performance on all WM tasks, particularly the Corsi backward (CB) task.
• Background screen time (BST) did not show a significant impact on working memory outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Increased active screen time (AST) correlates with enhanced working memory performance in adolescents, especially in visuospatial tasks.
• Findings indicate modality-specific impacts of screen engagement on adolescent working memory.
• The study highlights the nuanced relationship between screen time and cognitive abilities in adolescents.