National Trends in the Prevalence of Screen Time and Its Association With Biopsychosocial Risk Factors Among Korean Adolescents, 2008-2021

Jiyeon Oh; Minji Kim; Sang Youl Rhee; Masoud Rahmati; Ai Koyanagi; Lee Smith; Min Seo Kim; Guillaume Fond; Laurent Boyer; Sunyoung Kim; Jae Il Shin; Dong Keon Yon

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.10.021

National Trends in the Prevalence of Screen Time and Its Association With Biopsychosocial Risk Factors Among Korean Adolescents, 2008-2021

J Adolesc Health. 2024 Mar;74(3):504-513. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.10.021. Epub 2023 Dec 11.

Authors

Jiyeon Oh¹, Minji Kim², Sang Youl Rhee³, Masoud Rahmati⁴, Ai Koyanagi⁵, Lee Smith⁶, Min Seo Kim⁷, Guillaume Fond⁸, Laurent Boyer⁸, Sunyoung Kim⁹, Jae Il Shin¹⁰, Dong Keon Yon¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
² Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Regulatory Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran; Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Vali-E-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran.
⁵ Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain.
⁶ Centre for Health, Performance and Wellbeing, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁷ Medical and Population Genetics and Cardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
⁸ Research Centre on Health Services and Quality of Life, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France.
⁹ Department of Family Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹¹ Department of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Regulatory Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 38085201
DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.10.021

Abstract

Purpose: Prior studies suggested an increase in screen time among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, due to limited sample size and a short-term observation period, these associations are inconclusive and inconsistent. Thus, we aimed to compare screen time during the pandemic and the long-term trend through a Korean large-scale and long-term study of one million adolescents.

Methods: Data from 2008 to 2021 on 913,191 Korean adolescents aged 12-18 years were obtained via a nationwide, large-scale, and serial study. We investigated the change of screen time use over time and the change in trend before and during the pandemic (2008-2019 vs. 2020-2021) by using weighted linear regression model with estimates of β-coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Moreover, we analyzed the differences in vulnerability of biopsychosocial factor before and during the pandemic.

Results: A total of 913,191 adolescents were included in this analysis. During the pandemic, the overall screen time of Korean adolescents significantly increased compared to the expected based on the prepandemic period during the pre-COVID-19 period (weighted screen time before the pandemic [133.24 min/day; 95% CI, 132.08-134.40] vs. during the pandemic [303.66 min/day; 95% CI, 300.59-306.73]; β_diff 0.331; 95% CI, 0.311-0.351). Comparing before and during the pandemic, potential risk factors associated with screen exposure included female sex, sadness, suicidal thoughts, alcohol consumption, low educational level of parents, low level of vigorous physical activity, middle school students, and low household income.

Discussion: Through large-scale nationwide study, this study described the 14-year trend of screen time among Korean adolescents. In the era of COVID-19, the prevalence of screen exposure has been increasing more rapidly than before at the population level. Also, the pandemic amplified the differences in screen time across grade, sex, sadness, suicidal thoughts, smoking, alcohol consumption, education level of parents, physical activity, and household income groups.

Keywords: Adolescents; Korea; Risk factors; Screen time; Time trends.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
COVID-19*
Female
Humans
Pandemics*
Prevalence
Republic of Korea / epidemiology
Risk Factors
Screen Time