Digital Use, Adolescent Mental Health, and Gender: Associations and Pathways Between Digital Engagement and Youth Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature exploring how young people’s digital use shapes their mental health and well-being. However, very few studies have examined the ways in which digital use throughout adolescence shapes later outcomes, and even fewer studies have explained the precise pathways linking digital use to youth mental health. This study utilizes high-quality data from the 1998 birth cohort of the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study (N = 5,077, 52% female) to examine: 1) how both current (age 20) and previous (ages 9, 13, 17/18) digital use behaviors are associated with depressive symptoms in young adulthood; 2) what pathways operate in the relationship between digital use and youth depressive symptoms; and 3) how associations and pathways between digital engagement and youth depressive symptoms differ by gender. Results show that higher levels of digital screen-time at age 20 (2+ hours daily) and consistent “heavy” digital usage throughout adolescence are associated with higher depressive symptoms at age 20. Further, path analyses reveal both direct and indirect paths of time spent online with higher depressive symptoms via poor sleep, decreased physical activity, decreased body-weight satisfaction, and low self-esteem. Finally, while associations between digital use and depressive symptoms are similar by gender, the explanatory pathways between previous adolescent digital use and depressive symptoms in young adulthood differ markedly between men and women. Overall, sleep, physical activity, self-concept and self-esteem are potential mediators driving the associations between digital use and youth depressive symptoms, while the pathways operating behind these processes differ by gender.