Cognitive functioning and emotional regulation: The levels of digital screen use in relation to socio-demographic factors

Abstract

When an individual is no longer a child but not yet an adult is described as the period of adolescence. Mobile formed the maximum used Screen Based Media. Adolescents who spent more time on media (including social media and electronic devices such as smartphone’s) were more likely to report mental health issues, so there is a need to create awareness among parents, teachers, and children. Cognitive functioning and emotional regulation found to be an important variable associated with the screen use is affecting the population in varied ways both positively and negatively. This study aims to assess the interaction of multiple variables with levels of digital screen use in three phases of adolescence. The total sample size is 600 with an age group ranging from 10-19 years from Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. The data collection included systematic random sampling method and study adopts cross-sectional research design. The semi-structed interview and questionnaires were used for assessment of variables and sociodemographic data. MANOVA, Kruskal-Walli’s test and SPSS 23 version is used for the analysis of data. The result shows significant difference in problem solving across age, domicile, gender and levels of digital screen use. Also, there is a significant difference in cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in early and mid adolescence across domicile, gender and levels of digital screen use.