Problem Technology Use, Academic Performance, and School Connectedness among Adolescents

Hugues Sampasa-Kanyinga, Hayley A. Hamilton, Gary S. Goldfield and Jean-Philippe Chaput
Additional contact information
Hugues Sampasa-Kanyinga: School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1G 5Z3, Canada
Hayley A. Hamilton: Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada
Gary S. Goldfield: Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada
Jean-Philippe Chaput: School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1G 5Z3, Canada

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Little is known about the association between problem technology use in adolescents and school-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of problem technology use and examine its association with academic performance and school connectedness in a sample of students across Ontario, Canada. Methods: Self-reported data from a sample of 4837 students in grades 9 to 12 (mean age: 15.9 years; 49.5% females) were cross-sectionally analyzed. Ordered logistic regression models were adjusted for important covariates. Results: We found that 35.8% of students used their screen device for at least 5 h a day and about 18.6% had moderate-to-serious symptoms of problem technology use, a prevalence that was higher in females (22.4%) than males (14.9%). Heavy technology use was differentially associated with lower academic performance and lower levels of school connectedness in males and females. Having moderate-to-serious symptoms of problem technology use was associated with lower academic performance among males (AOR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.53–0.87) and females (AOR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.52–0.84). It was also associated with less school connectedness in both males (AOR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.50–0.86) and females (AOR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.51–0.78). Conclusion: Excessive use and problem technology use are highly prevalent among secondary school students, and they are associated with lower academic performance and lower levels of school connectedness.

Keywords: screen; smartphone; tablet; laptop; computer; school outcomes; school belonging; youth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2337/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2337/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2337-:d:752341

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().