Patterns of Child and Adolescent Digital Media Use: Associations With School Support, Engagement, and Cybervictimization

There is a scarcity of studies examining how youth digital technology/social media use is associated with school adjustment. The current study addressed this gap in the literature by utilizing latent profile analysis to examine aspects of digital technology/social media use as it relates to school engagement, classmate support, teacher support, and cybervictimization among a sample of 589 fourth- to 12th-grade students. We found five distinct patterns of media use (low users, moderate users, high users, gamers, and social media users), with girls more likely to be social media users and boys more likely to be gamers. Older youth were more likely to be social media users and moderate users. Overall, children and adolescents who spent less time on media (i.e., lower users) reported more positive adjustment (i.e., higher levels of school engagement, classmate support, and teacher support, and lower levels of cybervictimization) compared to other media use profiles. Future research should explore specific aspects of youth digital technology/social media use, including school-based practices, and school adjustment utilizing longitudinal designs as this will be important to further understand aspects of media use which promote or hinder youth wellbeing and educational outcomes across both childhood and adolescence.