Numerous studies, notably secondary analyses of survey data, have examined the possibility of adverse effects from teenagers' use of digital screen-based media--with correspondingly diverse findings. One research group in particular, led by Jean M. Twenge, has been prolific and forceful in associating adolescents’ screen time with reported increases in depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide. Others have pointed to small effect sizes, construct validity issues, and other methodological problems in the Twenge research. However, one characteristic of the group's analyses of survey data, including data from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), has remained unexplored: the use of metric methods to analyze dichotomous and ordinal data. By way of example, this study deployed binomial and ordinal regression to re-analyze data from seven administrations of YRBS between 2007 and 2019, a sample comprising 103,525 high-school students. The demonstration revealed that YRBS data provide no evidence of a relationship between non-television screen time and psychological well-being, except at an indeterminately high level of daily use, calling into question the widely publicized claims of the Twenge group.
","abstract_html":"<p>Numerous studies, notably secondary analyses of survey data, have examined the possibility of adverse effects from teenagers' use of digital screen-based media--with correspondingly diverse findings. One research group in particular, led by Jean M. Twenge, has been prolific and forceful in associating adolescents’ screen time with reported increases in depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide. Others have pointed to small effect sizes, construct validity issues, and other methodological problems in the Twenge research. However, one characteristic of the group's analyses of survey data, including data from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), has remained unexplored: the use of metric methods to analyze dichotomous and ordinal data. By way of example, this study deployed binomial and ordinal regression to re-analyze data from seven administrations of YRBS between 2007 and 2019, a sample comprising 103,525 high-school students. The demonstration revealed that YRBS data provide no evidence of a relationship between non-television screen time and psychological well-being, except at an indeterminately high level of daily use, calling into question the widely publicized claims of the Twenge group.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Miller, Russell"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Educational Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Bruce Homer"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["David Rindskopf","Howard Everson"],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-02-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-02-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:05Z","subjects":["Communication Technology and New Media","Psychology","Social Media","digital media","screen media","screen time","mental health","depression","suicide"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4719","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Bruce Homer"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["David Rindskopf","Howard Everson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Miller, Russell"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-12-18T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Communication Technology and New Media","Psychology","Social Media","digital media","screen media","screen time","mental health","depression","suicide"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4719"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Numerous studies, notably secondary analyses of survey data, have examined the possibility of adverse effects from teenagers' use of digital screen-based media--with correspondingly diverse findings. One research group in particular, led by Jean M. Twenge, has been prolific and forceful in associating adolescents’ screen time with reported increases in depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide. Others have pointed to small effect sizes, construct validity issues, and other methodological problems in the Twenge research. However, one characteristic of the group's analyses of survey data, including data from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), has remained unexplored: the use of metric methods to analyze dichotomous and ordinal data. By way of example, this study deployed binomial and ordinal regression to re-analyze data from seven administrations of YRBS between 2007 and 2019, a sample comprising 103,525 high-school students. The demonstration revealed that YRBS data provide no evidence of a relationship between non-television screen time and psychological well-being, except at an indeterminately high level of daily use, calling into question the widely publicized claims of the Twenge group.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Screen Time and the Psychological Well-Being of U.S. Teenagers: An Exploratory Re-Analysis of Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Bruce Homer"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["David Rindskopf","Howard Everson"],"dc:creator":["Miller, Russell"],"dc:date.available":["2021-12-18T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Numerous studies, notably secondary analyses of survey data, have examined the possibility of adverse effects from teenagers' use of digital screen-based media--with correspondingly diverse findings. One research group in particular, led by Jean M. Twenge, has been prolific and forceful in associating adolescents’ screen time with reported increases in depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide. Others have pointed to small effect sizes, construct validity issues, and other methodological problems in the Twenge research. However, one characteristic of the group's analyses of survey data, including data from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), has remained unexplored: the use of metric methods to analyze dichotomous and ordinal data. By way of example, this study deployed binomial and ordinal regression to re-analyze data from seven administrations of YRBS between 2007 and 2019, a sample comprising 103,525 high-school students. The demonstration revealed that YRBS data provide no evidence of a relationship between non-television screen time and psychological well-being, except at an indeterminately high level of daily use, calling into question the widely publicized claims of the Twenge group.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4719"],"dc:subject":["Communication Technology and New Media","Psychology","Social Media","digital media","screen media","screen time","mental health","depression","suicide"],"dc:title":["Screen Time and the Psychological Well-Being of U.S. Teenagers: An Exploratory Re-Analysis of Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:05Z"}