Breadcrumb
Digital Health and Welfare
By Jenna Kammer, Lauren Hays, and Sandeep Ponigoti, June 9, 2022
Digital health and welfare refer to physical and psychological well-being in a digital world.
Carter, M. A., M'Balla-Ndi, M., van Luyn, A., & Goldie, D. (2017). Taking a stand against cyberbullying in higher education. In O. Dreon & D. Polly (Eds.) Teacher Education for Ethical Professional Practice in the 21st Century (pp. 197-235). IGI Global.
This book chapter presented the impact of an educational website for higher education students on the impact of cyber-bullying. The authors defined cyberbullying as aggressive behaviors carried out online, and recognized that people play different roles in acts of online bullying. Using the ecological model, the online cyberbullying resource was examined using an action research methodology. The findings show that the resource was worthwhile, and highlighted various ways to improve it.
Feerrar, J. (2020). Supporting digital wellness and wellbeing. In S. Holder & A. Lannon (Eds.), Student Wellness and Academic Libraries: Case Studies and Activities for Promoting Health and Success. ACRL Press.
This chapter described strategies for librarians who want to help others with their digital well-being. After reviewing the research on digital wellness and college students, the author presents a case study of two pilot methods to digital wellness assistance at Virginia Tech's University Libraries: participating in a significant campus-wide event and organizing part of the introductory courses. Connecting relevant outreach and instructional initiatives to digital well-being and framing them in wellness terms provided librarians with additional chances to form cross-campus relationships and interact with students. Digital wellness is a multifaceted activity that requires the capacity to make educated decisions regarding time spent and privacy, social relationships, and media intake. For librarians interested in engaging students in digital and information literacy subjects which will affect their academic, personal or professional lives, learning about the intricacies and complexity of digital wellness is a fascinating opportunity.
Goodyear, V. A., Armour, K. M., & Wood, H. (2019). Young people learning about health: the role of apps and wearable devices. Learning, Media and Technology, 44(2), 193-210.
This article included new research on the sorts of health-related applications and gadgets that young people seek out, choose, and use, as well as the factors that influence their decisions. A participatory mixed-method design with 245 young people (ages 13–18) yielded the results. The findings demonstrated the agency of young people in digital health contexts and the complexity and fluidity of their decision-making. Schools, physical education classes, sports, family members, and peers had a significant impact on young people's digital health understanding and behaviors. The digital health landscape is evolving at an unprecedented rate, necessitating and emphasizing the need for adults to help young people. Relevant adults can assist young people in better controlling their interaction with digital health technology by emphasizing agency and working with them. Risk narratives influence young people's interaction with digital health technology. Yet, from the perspective of young people, there is a lack of knowledge of the health-related concerns and opportunities created by digital health technology.
Lauricella, A .R., Wartella, E., & Rideout, V.J. (2015). Young children’s screen time: The complex role of parent and child factors. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 36,11-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.12.001
This research examined correlations between parent screen time and the time their children, ages 0-8, spend on screens. The researchers looked at the time parents spent watching television, and on their smartphones, computers, or tablets. Results found that the more parents were looking at a screen the more their children were engaging in screen time as well. The study has important implications for families and policy makers. Focus may need to be given to helping adults manage their own screen time in order to impact the amount of time children spend on screens.
Loos, A. T. (2017). The role of librarians in promoting digital wellness: a case study. Public Services Quarterly, 13(1), 32-40.
The author shared about a digital wellness workshop series that was hosted at a library in which they worked. The workshop series focused on the overuse of technology and how students could prioritize other habits. The workshop was built with four specific workshop goals and four student learning outcomes. While the workshop series primarily focused on the overuse of technology and academic performance, strategies were also given for how to increase happiness and be more productive. In the future, librarians hope to create additional learning opportunities on digital wellness in partnership with other campus organizations.
McStay, A. (2018). Emotional AI: The rise of empathic media. Sage.
In this book, McStay asked readers to question the impact of computers interpreting our feelings, emotions, moods, and inspirations. Related to digital health and wellness, McStay suggested caution as we interact with technologies, like an Apple Watch, that attempt to gauge our emotions or health. Specifically, he presented the example of how artificial intelligence is now being designed to interpret feelings, moods, and emotions which will have additional implications for well-being and social relations.
Paulich, K. N., Ross, J. M., Lessem, J. M., & Hewitt, J. K. (2021). Screen time and early adolescent mental health, academic, and social outcomes in 9- and 10- year old children: Utilizing the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development ℠ (ABCD) Study. PLoS ONE, 16(9), e0256591. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256591
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) research assessed smartphone screen use in a sample group of 67 individuals (aged 11-12 years; 31/67, 46 percent female; 23/67, 34 percent White) over four weeks in 2019-2020. Before and during the trial period, both children and their parents recorded average smartphone screen use, and they answered a survey about the study protocol's acceptability. The survey was conducted over usage of screen time in various timeframes (weekdays and the other on weekends) and found behavioral issues including ADHD, poor academic performance, and poor sleep quantity were correlated with increased screen time. Screen time, on the other hand, is positively related to the amount and quality of peer relationships. Considering survey results of both weekday and weekends, screen time usage is greater on weekends and the impact of screen time on those outcome measures is usually unaffected by gender.
Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2019). Digital screen time limits and young children's psychological well‐being: Evidence from a population‐based study. Child development, 90(1), e56-e65.
The authors of this study conducted phone interviews with parents of children aged 2-5 to understand how digital screen limits impacted children's attachment, resilience, curiosity, and positive affect during the previous month. The researchers found that current guidelines suggesting strict screen limits for children, did not actually benefit children's psychological well-being. Instead, the context in which children grow up and experience screen time (including the social and economic environment) was found to be more influential on children's psychological well-being. The researchers suggest further research needs to be conducted to determine if screen limits play a positive role for children.
Rideout, V., Fox, S., Peebles, A., & Robb, M. B. (2021). Coping with COVID-19: How young people use digital media to manage their mental health (report). Common Sense and Hopelab. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2021-coping-with-covid19-full-report.pdf
The report's goal was to elevate the voices and experiences of young people. Researchers employed a survey technique that includes many open-ended questions that allow teenagers and young adults to speak freely about their experiences, and examined several distinct populations, including those who are currently experiencing symptoms of depression, as measured by the PHQ-8 depression scale; those who have been directly impacted by COVID-19; and LGBTQ+ youth, who have incredibly high rates of depression and are particularly active in using digital health resources. The results of this nationally representative survey of more than 1,500 teenagers and young adults (ages 14 to 22) in the United States found that 38% of teens experience depression but LGBTQ teens experience double the rate of depression; 51% of young people had a COVID-19 infection in their house, young people feel like they often encounter hate speech and shaming online but social media also kept them connected; young people with depression use social media more and are more likely to say it helps them to feel better. The report sheds additional light on the debate over the impact of social media on juvenile depression. The findings add color and complexity to our knowledge of how and why teenagers and young adults utilize social media by elevating the voices of the youth themselves when people are sad, upset, or nervous, and how social media impacts them, and what people do use social media to help and support their well-being. In addition, people utilize additional digital tools for health, such as mobile applications, internet research on health subjects, communicating with doctors, and seeking peer health advice.
Williamson, B. (2021). Psychodata: Disassembling the psychological, economic, and statistical infrastructure of ‘social-emotional learning’. Journal of Education Policy, 36(1), 129-154.
The paper looked at the growing infrastructure of social emotional learning (SEL), focusing on how psychologists and economists provide policy-relevant scientific information and statistical psycho data to affect the direction of SEL policies. It looks at how the OECD Study on Social and Emotional Skills, a large-scale computer-based assessment, transforms quantifiable socio-emotional indicators into projected socio-economic results. The SEL measuring infrastructure embodies psychological governance in education, political rationality in which society is successfully monitored via scientific fact-finding, and individuals are governed effectively by psychological intervention. In today's government, psychology and economics are significant sources of expert knowledge. In many areas of the world, social and emotional learning (SEL) is becoming a priority in educational policy. SEL is a 'psycho-economic' mix of psychometrics and economic analysis that produces innovative statistical 'psychodata' on pupils. It is based on the enumeration of students' 'noncognitive' talents. SEL has traveled transnationally through the advocacy of psychologists, economists, and behavioral scientists, with support from think tank coalitions, philanthropies, software companies, investment schemes, and international organizations, thanks to an expanding infrastructure of technologies, metrics, people, money, and policies.
