How is adolescents’ media use, particularly of image-based social media platforms, affecting and amplifying their body image concerns?

On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry discusses the impacts of digital media use on adolescents’ physical and mental health with Dr. Jason Nagata. Drawing on his experience as a researcher and a pediatrician, Dr. Nagata highlights the link between digital media and body image and eating disorders, particularly among boys, who are often overlooked on this topic and whose body image problems and eating disorders often present differently from girls. In addition, he shares research findings linking specific mental health symptoms to use of digital media, explores other health outcomes linked to digital media use, and discusses demographic and gender differences in media use patterns and health outcomes.

In this episode you will learn:

• What the ABCD study is and why it’s providing quality data for research into adolescent screen use and health.
• What mental health symptoms in adolescents are most associated with high amounts of screen use.
• Gender and other demographic differences in screen uses and their health impacts in adolescents.
• What aspects of screen use are most impacting body image and eating disorder symptoms in youth.
• How teen boys are experiencing body image pressure from media - and differences in how their body image disorder symptoms present.
• What warning signs parents and caregivers can watch for that indicate an adolescent’s attention to exercise is becoming unhealthy.
• The biggest predictor of high amounts of adolescent screen time (hint: parents).

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on:

Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Twitter: @childrenscreens

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

When a young child watches TV or uses a digital tablet are they able to learn from what they see? What are the effects of media use on the development of attentional networks?

On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry talks to Dr. Heather Kirkorian about how digital media impacts learning, cognition, and attention in young children. Dr. Kirkorian describes the developmental milestones that allow for learning from digital media, explains the “video deficit effect” – the finding that young children have a hard time transferring things they learn on screens to the real world – and how interactive elements of digital devices may support or impede learning. Dr. Kirkorian also shares findings on how background television can disrupt parent-child interactions critical for early learning, as well as suggestions for parents in choosing high quality media for younger children.

In this episode you will learn:

• How media use affects young children’s attention and learning.
• How interactivity and engagement in digital media affects young children’s ability to learn.
• What developmental milestones indicate that a child is ready to learn from digital media {and what supports they might need to enhance learning.}
• Why young children are more likely to learn from real-life demonstrations than video.
• How to choose high quality media content and use it to support young children’s learning.
• How background TV exposure can affect young child attention.

Dr. Heather Kirkorian is the Laura M. Secord Chair in Early Childhood Development and a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also has affiliate appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Educational Psychology at UW-Madison. Dr. Kirkorian is a developmental psychologist who studies cognitive development in infants and young children, particularly in the context of TV and digital media. She uses a combination of behavioral, observational, and psychophysiological methods to study the impact of child and parent media use on children (e.g., attention, memory, learning, play), parents (e.g., stress, burnout), and families (e.g., parent-child interactions).

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on:

Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Twitter: @childrenscreens

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

Introducing the Screen Deep podcast - where we go on deep dives with leading experts to decode child and adolescent brains and behavior in a digital world.

For more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)

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Follow Children and Screens on:

Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Instagram: @childrenandscreens
LinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development
Twitter: @childrenscreens

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Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au