Longitudinal Effects of Screen Time on Depressive Symptoms among Swedish Adolescents: The Moderating and Mediating Role of Coping Engagement Behavior

Sebastian Hökby (), Joakim Westerlund, Jesper Alvarsson, Vladimir Carli and Gergö Hadlaczky
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Sebastian Hökby: National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP), Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Joakim Westerlund: National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP), Centre for Health Economics, Informatics and Health Services Research (CHIS), Stockholm Health Care Services, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Jesper Alvarsson: National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP), Centre for Health Economics, Informatics and Health Services Research (CHIS), Stockholm Health Care Services, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Vladimir Carli: National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP), Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Gergö Hadlaczky: National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP), Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-22

Abstract: Studies suggest that hourly digital screen time increases adolescents’ depressive symptoms and emotional regulation difficulties. However, causal mechanisms behind such associations remain unclear. We hypothesized that problem-focused and/or emotion-focused engagement coping moderates and possibly mediates this association over time. Questionnaire data were collected in three waves from a representative sample of Swedish adolescents (0, 3 and 12 months; n = 4793; 51% boys; 99% aged 13–15). Generalized Estimating Equations estimated the main effects and moderation effects, and structural regression estimated the mediation pathways. The results showed that problem-focused coping had a main effect on future depression ( b = 0.030; p < 0.001) and moderated the effect of screen time ( b = 0.009; p < 0.01). The effect size of this moderation was maximum 3.4 BDI-II scores. The mediation results corroborated the finding that future depression was only indirectly correlated with baseline screen time, conditional upon intermittent problem-coping interference (C’-path: Std. beta = 0.001; p = 0.018). The data did not support direct effects, emotion-focused coping effects, or reversed causality. We conclude that hourly screen time can increase depressive symptoms in adolescent populations through interferences with problem-focused coping and other emotional regulation behaviors. Preventive programs could target coping interferences to improve public health. We discuss psychological models of why screen time may interfere with coping, including displacement effects and echo chamber phenomena.

Keywords: screen time; internet use; depression; coping behaviors; emotional regulation; problem solving; social skills; adolescent development; longitudinal studies; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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