Factors associated with children’s use of digital technology: an umbrella review

The impact and role of digital technology in the lives of children has been heavily debated. To provide decision-makers with evidence-based guidance, clarity is needed on which factors (e.g. demographic, health, lifestyle, and environment) are associated with children’s technology use. This umbrella review synthesized the current systematic review evidence on the correlates of digital technology use by children and adolescents, while considering the nature of relationships between technology use and correlates within a socio-ecological model. Systematic review articles considering correlates of digital technology use in children were included (child demographic, general health and physical factors; child psychological, cognitive, and emotional factors; child lifestyle factors; social and cultural environment factors; and physical environment factors). Systematic searches were performed in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Library, and PROSPERO from inception until June 2023. We summarised the correlates of children’s digital technology use based on the categories within the socio-ecological model. Of the 8317 identified articles, 5589 articles were screened, and 108 systematic reviews were included in the synthesis which were comprised of 3268 eligible individual studies, including over 14 million participants. Most studies measured time spent using digital technology. Most of the evidence showed a lack of consistent associations between technology use and correlates. Of the 64 correlates only 18 (28.1%) had a positive association and 2 (3.1%) had a negative association. In contrast 9 (14.1%) correlates had evidence of no association and the majority ( n = 35, 54.7%) of correlates had inconsistent associations. Based on the current literature there appears to be inconsistent evidence for associations with children’s technology use. The current evidence is limited by several common assumptions regarding technology use by children, including the presumed causal nature of the associations, weak measures of technology use, and conflating statistical significance with practical importance. Challenging these assumptions could help researchers acquire higher quality evidence to inform practitioners supporting families, and families being empowered to make decisions to promote child health within their context. Prospero CRD42023422858, registered 12 May 2023.