Digital Media-related Problems Contributing to Psychiatric Hospitalizations Among Children and Adolescents Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The role of digital media in crises leading to youth psychiatric admissions is understudied and digital media use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, demographics, clinical characteristics, and digital media-related problems (DMRPs; sub-coded as cyberbullying, onli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child psychiatry and human development 2024-01
Main Authors: Becker, Timothy D, Leong, Alicia, Shanker, Parul, Martin, Dalton, Staudenmaier, Paige, Lynch, Sean, Rice, Timothy R
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The role of digital media in crises leading to youth psychiatric admissions is understudied and digital media use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, demographics, clinical characteristics, and digital media-related problems (DMRPs; sub-coded as cyberbullying, online communication problems, triggering content, and limit-setting problems) were extracted from hospital records of youth (n = 1,101) admitted to a pediatric psychiatric unit from May 2018 to November 2021. DMRPs were identified in 127 admissions (11.5%), led by the online communication problems and limit-setting subtypes (both 4-5%). Significantly more overall problems were identified following the pandemic onset (13.9% of admissions vs. 9.1% before, p 
ISSN:0009-398X
1573-3327
1573-3327
DOI:10.1007/s10578-024-01670-w