Surfing the Internet while listening to music is not necessarily a good idea. Among children, frequent “media multitasking” – more than gaming or screen time – impacts mental health, according to a study conducted among Geneva schoolchildren.
The increase in digital media consumption, especially among children, raises concerns about its impact. While it is often a question of limiting the time spent in front of the screen, it is not so simple, says a study led by Pedro Cardoso-Leite, of the University of Luxembourg, in which Geneva researchers participated and published in the specialist journal Plos One.
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Because the way children use the media plays a decisive role. The study compares three different forms of consumption: the total number of hours spent on digital media, the hours of video games and the frequency of media multitasking, that is, the simultaneous use of different media. The researchers analyzed the behavior in this area in 118 primary school children in Geneva aged eight to twelve. They looked at the effects on variables such as attention span, mental health, sleep, and school performance.
Total time is secondary
According to the study, media multitasking in particular was correlated with poor mental health, poor quality sleep and reduced persistence. Teachers also reported that students who practiced intensively more often exhibited behavior similar to attention deficit disorder (ADHD). The older the children, the more they reported consuming more than one media at the same time.
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In contrast, video games were not correlated with negative effects. Rather, they were associated with better mental health and a faster response capacity, the researchers said. The study shows that 8-year-olds consume an average of around four and a half hours of digital media content per day. At 12 years, this value rises to 8 hours and 14 minutes. However, the researchers did not find any significant correlations between total time of use and the variables examined.
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