The Impact of Digital Media Use on Behavior and Brain Function

Dear Colleagues,

Digital media use in the Unites States has grown at a rapid rate over the last two decades. Data from the Pew Research Center highlight the ubiquity of devices used to access and share digital content. Among Americans, 65% have broadband Internet access at home, 73% own a computer, and 77% own smartphones. Other countries mirror these trends, suggesting a worldwide increase in digital media use. While the growth in digital media use has certainly created a more interconnected world, increasing the accessibility and availability of information to the broadest possibile audience, it it not without a cost. Research is just beginning to shed light on the possible negative consequences of our unparalleled use of digital media. Examples include the growing concern over how 24-hour access to news shapes our political discourse and how social media use in particular is linked to youth suicides and body-image disorders. Recently, Internet gaming disorder was introduced by the American Psychiatric Association as a potential diagnosis for further study. Additionally, the growing amount of time that youth spend interacting with digital and social media has raised questions about the effect this has on the developing brain. Approximately 29% of youth spend their time media multitasking, using multiple devices or engaging with multiple pieces of digital content simultaneously, which may be detrimental to their attention and cognition. Strong, experimental designs examining the causal effects of digital media use will allow us to determine the extent of the problem and, perhaps, what steps can be taken to remedy its impact. Papers addressing any of these topics are invited for this Special Issue, which we hope will highlight cutting-edge research on the positive and negative effects of digital media use, practical solutions for the challenges we face, and the unanswered questions that future research must address.

Dr. Kira Bailey
Guest Editor

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• Digital media
• Brain development
• Brain function
• Smartphones
• Gaming
• Media multitasking
• Social media