It’s not a new question — how does growing up with social media and the internet in your pocket affect your mental wellbeing?
University of South Florida researchers are launching the first long-term study that will attempt to answer this very question.
The groundbreaking Life in Media Survey will collect data from thousands of preteens over the next 25 years, measuring how digital media use changes attitude, behavior and health throughout the users’ lives.
Lead researcher Justin Martin said the goal is “to also see how digital media use in childhood affects wellness, not only in childhood, but later in life.”
He said this interdisciplinary lifespan study is long overdue.
"To be honest, this study probably should have been started ten years ago," Martin said.
While there have been shorter-term studies about this topic, what is missing is an extended analysis of children growing up in the digital media age, Martin said.
“A lot of them are snapshot studies and they don’t track the same children over time,” Martin said. “So, that’s what the Life in Media Survey will do.”
He said he’s expecting to find “social media use and excessive screen time are positively associated with depression and anxiety.”
In other words, as media consumption increases, so will depression and anxiety.
Martin and his team will survey up to 9,000 preteens across the United States every six months for a quarter century to assess how media use impacts them. The survey will be given once during the school year and again over summer break.
The 11 to 13 year old participants were selected from a nationwide panel from the Harris Poll, a global research firm that is partnering with USF for the study. They will be compensated for participating through points from Harris that can be cashed in for gift cards and other rewards.
The survey will look beyond just the amount of time adolescents and young adults spend scrolling on Instagram though. Instead, it will look at all digital behaviors, including listening to podcasts, binge watching and music streaming.
In addition to leading research, Martin is the Eleanor Poynter Jamison Chair in Media Ethics & Press Policy at USF St. Pete.
He said longitudinal studies, like this one, are often very expensive.
While the research got its initial funding from an endowment for his position, they will have to continue applying for funds throughout the project. Martin did not say how much the initial funding was.
He added the survey will also look at how adults become consumers and sharers of “ethically grounded news and information.”
The biannual survey results will be released throughout the study so the community can look at the impacts of media use throughout the duration of the research.
Preceding the lifespan study, researchers are conducting a pilot survey with around 1,500 Floridians to work out the kinks in survey questions and methodology.
“We have some expectations, but we’re also trying to answer questions that haven’t been asked before,” Martin said.
