Executive Functioning as Mediator in the Longitudinal Relationship Between Media Multitasking and Divergent Thinking in Adolescents

Junior high school students frequently multitask with media because of the rapid development of media tools. It is vital to investigate the relationship between junior high school students' individual cognitive abilities and media multitasking to better support their educational and developmental needs. Using a longitudinal design, this study investigated the relationship between media multitasking and divergent thinking, and the mediating role of executive function. Creativity and media were measured using the Development of Adolescent Executive Function Scale, the Alternative Uses Test (AUT), and the Media Multitasking Scale (MMS). Six hundred and nine junior high school students were assessed twice within a six-month period (at T1 and T2). After controlling for grade, gender, and place of origin, T1 media multitasking was negatively correlated with T2 divergent thinking and T2 executive function. Moreover, T2 executive function was negatively correlated with T2 divergent thinking. Middle schoolers' T1 media multitasking significantly negatively predicted their T2 divergent thinking β = -0.1. Vertically, T2 executive function partially mediates the relationship between T1 media multitasking and T2 divergent thinking. High media multitasking reduces individual executive function, whereas low executive function can improve individual divergent thinking. This study reveals the relationship between media multitasking and divergent thinking, as well as the longitudinal mediating mechanism of executive function. Media multitasking can negatively predict divergent thinking, and T2 executive function had a significant longitudinal mediating effect on the relationship between T1 media multitasking and T2 divergent thinking.