Impact of media multitasking on executive function in adolescents: behavioral and self-reported evidence from a one-year longitudinal study
ISSN: 1066-2243
Article publication date: 15 December 2021
Issue publication date: 4 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The longitudinal impact of media multitasking on the development of executive function has been understudied, as most of the existing studies are cross-sectional. This longitudinal study addresses this research gap and uses multiple measures, i.e. behavioral and self-reported, to explore the impact of media multitasking on the executive function of Chinese adolescents.
Design/methodology/approach
This study followed 99 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.41, SD = 1.10; 42 boys and 57 girls) for one year using both behavioral (2-back, Stroop Color and Number-letter tasks) and self-reported (questionnaire) measures. The adolescents were categorized as either heavy/high media multitaskers (HMMs; 19 boys and 29 girls) or light/low media multitaskers (LMMs; 23 boys and 28 girls). They were tested at baseline, 6 months later and 12 months later.
Findings
The results indicated that the accuracy scores for all cognitive tasks differed with age, but the switch-cost in the shifting task and the self-reported measures of executive function did not. And there were consistent differences between the HMMs and LMMs in the self-reported measures and 2-back accuracy. However, the interaction effect was found only in shifting ability, indicating a decline in the LMMs' self-reported problematic shifting behavior in daily life.
Originality/value
This study used behavioral and self-reported measures to confirm the longitudinal impact of media multitasking on executive function. The impact of media multitasking on executive function is more apparent in daily-life behavior than in cognitive task performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
An earlier version of the abstract, entitled “One-year longitudinal study of the impact of media multitasking on adolescents' executive function,” was presented as a poster at the 32nd International Congress of Psychology. This work is partially supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021M700465). The authors would like to thank all the teachers and parents for their help during this study, as well as the students for their participation. All the authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest.
Citation
Luo, J., Yeung, P.-S. and Li, H. (2022), "Impact of media multitasking on executive function in adolescents: behavioral and self-reported evidence from a one-year longitudinal study", Internet Research, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 1310-1328. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-01-2021-0078
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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