The kids are / not / sort of all right: Technology’s complex role in teen wellbeing during COVID-19
We investigated changes in and factors affecting American adolescents’ subjective wellbeing during the early months (April – August 2020) of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Twenty-one teens (14-19 years) participated in interviews at the start and end of the study and completed ecological momentary assessments three times per week between the interviews. There was an aggregate trend toward increased wellbeing, with considerable variation within and across participants. Teens reported greater reliance on networked technologies as their unstructured time increased during lockdown. Using multilevel growth modeling, we found that how much total time teens spent with technology had less bearing on daily fluctuations in wellbeing than the satisfaction and meaning they derived from their technology use. Ultimately, teens felt online communication could not replace face-to-face interactions. We conducted two follow-up participatory design sessions with nine teens to explore these insights in greater depth and reflect on general implications for design to support teens’ meaningful technology experiences and wellbeing during disruptive life events.
Caroline Pitt
Ari Hock
Leila Zelnick
Katie Davis
Projects in Digital Youth
- ConnectedLib: Helping Librarians Use Digital Media to Make Learning Connections with Youth
- When Screen Time Isn’t Screen Time: Tensions and Needs Between Tweens and Their Parents During Nature-based Exploration
- Connected learning, collapsed contexts: Examining teens’ sociotechnical ecosystems through the lens of digital badges
- The kids are / not / sort of all right: Technology’s complex role in teen wellbeing during COVID-19
- Opportunities and Challenges in Involving Users in Project-Based HCI Education
- Designing a connected learning toolkit for public library staff serving youth through the design-based implementation research method
- ConnectedLib Toolkit