Beyond Screen Time: Identity Development in the Digital Age
2020/07/02 by Isabela Granic, Hiromitsu Morita, Hanneke Scholten · 223 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Child Development and Digital Technology #Cognitive psychology #Computer science #Developmental psychology #Digital health #Digital media #Entertainment #Identity (music) #Identity, Memory, and Therapy #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Mental health #Narrative #Personality #Psychology #Psychotherapist #Set (abstract data type) #Social psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2020.1820214
published in Psychological Inquiry 31(3), 195-223 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2020/07/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract
We are in the midst of a global transition in which digital “screens” are no longer simply entertainment devices and distractions; rather, adolescents are currently living in a hybrid reality that links digital spaces to offline contexts. Yet, psychological scientists studying the mental health impact of digital experiences largely focus on correlations with “screen time,” leading to oversimplified and atheoretical conclusions. We propose an alternative, functional approach to studying adolescent mental health in the digital age, one that examines why and how digital media affect adolescent development. Specifically, we suggest that understanding identity development—the core developmental task of adolescence—can help pinpoint the digital experiences that contribute to healthy versus problematic mental health outcomes. We have four objectives: (1) integrate principles from clinical and personality psychology with developmental theory to present a theoretical framework for investigating narrative identity; (2) show how this framework provides a useful lens for evaluating the impact of digital media on adolescents; (3) suggest a set of novel hypotheses that specify what kinds of digital contexts and experiences lead to healthy versus problematic mental health outcomes; and (4) propose a detailed research agenda that tests these hypotheses.
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