USF researchers begin first lifespan study on the effects of digital media use

• November 14, 2024
• Research and Innovation

By Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing

A groundbreaking new study conducted by the University of South Florida will track young people through 2050 to learn more about the long-term impacts of smartphones, social media and other digital media on individual wellbeing.

Though the long-term research will be conducted over the next 25 years, data collected every six months will give ongoing insight to parents, teachers, researchers, health providers and others on the impact of digital media use on children and as they age into adults.

"We have research from other fields that tracks people across decades, looking at cardiovascular health or work-life balance across the lifespan. We don't have that yet for digital media use and wellness," said Justin Martin, the Eleanor Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics & Press Policy at USF St. Petersburg and lead researcher of the study. "We know that digital media affect people, especially children, in meaningful and often adverse ways, so it's important to study the same individuals across the lifespan."

The Life in Media Survey will collect insights and experiences from thousands of 11 to 13-year-olds as they pertain to digital media. Researchers will then track the same participants over decades, to determine how digital media use impacts and changes attitudes, behaviors and health throughout their lives.

The survey will cover topics such as social media use and addiction, cyberbullying, news consumption, streaming services, parental controls, media literacy, artificial intelligence and more. Examining responses and patterns over time, researchers will discover possible connections between device ownership and time spent on social media with the prevalence of sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression and other critical wellness indicators.

"Experiences during childhood and adolescence can influence health outcomes later in life. This study will help us understand the impact of digital media use on sleep quality and mental health in adolescents, ultimately informing interventions to mitigate any harmful effects," said Chighaf Bakour, a USF associate professor of epidemiology.

Some 1,500 Florida youth will take the survey in November to provide researchers with baseline data. The Harris Poll, a global market research firm that collaborated with the USF team in constructing the questionnaire, is collecting the data and will obtain parental permission before children complete the online survey. Findings and insights from this cohort will be published in a report in the spring of 2025.

Informed by the pilot survey, the research team will then start a nationwide, long-term survey for up to 9,000 children in early adolescence. Researchers will survey these children twice a year, once during the school year and again in the summer.

"The 11 to 13-year-old range is typically, for now, when children acquire their own personal smartphone but are still pretty new to the world of digital media," said Stephen Song, USF assistant professor in the Department of Journalism & Digital Communication. "This is a good age to begin to track behavior changes that occur over time."

There has been a lot of snapshot research on the effects of digital media on everything from political discourse to social development, but no long-term study tracking digital media use and wellbeing from childhood into adulthood. There is a lot of data, but few conclusive findings, since media and devices can be used in so many different ways, said Wendy Rote, a USF psychology professor and expert on adolescent development.

"Let's say kids who spend more time on social media and devices have higher rates of depression, which is what some of the data is telling us. Is it because of the device and media itself, or is it because time spent with digital media means kids have less time for sports, clubs and other socialization activities?" Rote asked. "What you can get from a long-term study is broad patterns and trends of media use by individuals and examine those at different times in their life to pick apart and answer such questions."

The USF study differs in other ways from past research into children's media use and wellness. Prior work has mostly focused on smartphones, social media use and gaming. The USF study measures these things, but also assesses binge-watching, podcast listening, music streaming and other digital habits. Many past studies also begin at the 13-to-17 age range, whereas this research will start with children as young as 11, when nearly half of children in the U.S. do not yet own a smarthphone.

The research team comprises experts across various disciplines, including journalism, psychology, public health, political science, sociology and communications.

USF is also collaborating with the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and its MediaWise initiative, which empowers young people with media literacy skills, including digital and AI literacy. MediaWise's practical and technique-based teaching method uses a variety of fact-checking tools and critical analysis when identifying misinformation. Sean Marcus, the interactive learning designer for MediaWise and an adviser on the study, worked with the team to ensure survey questions were relevant and understandable for the audience.

Since the Life in Media Survey will be conducted twice a year over decades, the scope of change that researchers measure could be vast.

"Media and media literacy move at lightning speed, and this study will allow us to move with it," Marcus said. "We are in the midst of a major technological revolution with tools like AI. This research will provide us a frame of reference to understand how young people are living their lives with technology and how changes in technology are impacting them."