Does an Excessive Amount of Daily Screen Time Have Negative Effects on Adolescent Brain Development? — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Does an Excessive Amount of Daily Screen Time Have Negative Effects on Adolescent Brain Development?

Name: Alana Radley
Major: Athletic Training
Hometown: Waupaca, WI.
Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Jensen
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Name: Jacob Boucher
Major: Athletic Training
Hometown: Mukwonago, WI.
Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Jensen
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Name: Alexandre Lacrosse
Major: Athletic Training
Hometown: Gembloux, Belgium
Faculty Sponsor: Laurie Jensen
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

Effects of Daily Screen Time on Adolescent Brain Development

Alana Radley, Alexandre Lacrosse, & Jacob Boucher

The main goal of this research was to determine whether an excessive amount of daily screen time has negative effects on adolescent brain development. Our research was conducted using six scholarly articles that provided information about adolescent technology usage, early brain development, and the effect of technology on adolescent behavior.

All of the articles included in our research consisted of cross-sectional case studies that were conducted with adolescents from a variety of racial, socioeconomic, and family backgrounds. The data were collected in the United States and Australia. In the studies conducted during the school year, data were collected both school days and non-school days to ensure an accurate amount of overall screen usage.

Although the data did not offer an exact answer to our research question, it did provide an explanation for the rapidly evolving role of technology in society. However, a higher daily screen time did correlate with lower brain connectivity and mental health symptoms such as less happiness, lower self-esteem, and less life satisfaction.

With increasing awareness of mental health disorders in sports, such as anxiety disorder, substance abuse and sleeping disorders, the research indicated that the increased use of technology might have played a role in those mental health disorders. This research helped us to determine possible effects of technology on athletic trainers regarding communication, challenges, and patient treatment plans. Lastly, technology will continue to become an integral part of human life, therefore more research needs be done in order to examine its effects on the human body, especially the brain.