Social media use, gaming and quality of life among adolescents in Norway: results from the Young-HUNT study.

BACKGROUND

The use of screens, especially mobile devices like tablets and smartphones has increased over the last years and have become an integral to daily life. Adolescents today spend a lot of time using screens both at school and outside school. Identifying possible associations between gaming, social media use and quality of life (QoL) may inform the development of public health guidelines targeting adolescent behaviour. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between gaming, social media use and quality of life (QoL) among adolescents, and whether sex, spending time with friends or psychological distress moderate these associations.

METHODS

This study was based on cross-sectional data from the Trøndelag Health study (Young-Hunt4), collected in 2017-2019. The target group comprised 8066 adolescents (13-19 years). QoL was measured with the Norwegian version of the Inventory of Life Quality (ILC). Electronic media use was measured using the two variables social media use and gaming. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the association between social media use, gaming, and QoL.

RESULTS

Results showed a negative association between gaming (> 3 h per day) after school and quality of life (b = -0.26) and social media use (> 3 h per day) after school and quality of life (b = -0.20). Similar negative associations were observed between more time spent on gaming (> 3 h per day) during weekends and quality of life (b = -0.33) and more time spent on social media (> 3 h per day) during weekends and quality of life (b = -0.16). An interaction effect was observed between sex and social media use (after school), between sex and gaming (after school and during weekends), and between psychological distress and gaming during weekends.

CONCLUSIONS

More than three hours spent on gaming or social media per day, both during weekdays and weekends, was negatively associated with QoL. Sex moderated these associations; however, for social media use this was shown only after school. Additional research is needed to further explore these associations.