Screen time tracking across electronic devices in school-aged adolescents: a three-year longitudinal study

Area of Science:

• Adolescent health
• Digital media research
• Longitudinal studies

Background:

• Screen time (ST) is a growing concern for adolescent health.
• Understanding ST patterns across devices is crucial for public health.
• Previous research often lacks longitudinal data on device-specific ST.

Purpose of the Study:

• To track screen time on various electronic devices in adolescents over a three-year period.
• To analyze the consistency of screen time reporting across different devices.
• To identify changes in screen time habits among school-aged adolescents.

Main Methods:

• A three-year longitudinal study involving 151 adolescents (aged 14.9 years at baseline).
• Data collected in 2016 (baseline) and 2019 (follow-up) using self-reported questionnaires.
• Screen time for television (TV), video games (VG), smartphone, TV-smartphone-tablet (TST), and personal computer (PC) was assessed.
• Devices were categorized based on recommended ST limits (<= 2h/day).

Main Results:

• Low tracking consistency was observed for most screen devices across both sexes.
• Weak agreement was noted for TV time in girls.
• Boys showed significant increases in high ST for TST (68.6%) and smartphones (34.4%).
• Girls also exhibited significant increases in high ST for smartphones and TST (67.1%).
• Smartphones and TST demonstrated the most substantial changes in usage patterns over the study period.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent screen time tracking exhibits low reliability across multiple devices.
• Smartphones and combined TV, smartphone, tablet (TST) usage are key areas of increasing screen time.
• Longitudinal monitoring is essential to understand evolving digital media consumption in adolescents.