Assessing Belgian adolescents' negative digital experiences in everyday life: The mundane digital harms scale

Abstract

There is widespread concern over the harms adolescents experience from digital media use. Yet, existing literature often overlooks mundane digital harms. This study administered a new instrument, the mundane Digital Harms scale (mDHS), to a sample of 865 adolescents to examine (RQ1) their mundane digital harm experiences, and how these associate with their (RQ2) time spent on different digital activities, (RQ3) use of digital disconnection strategies, and (RQ4) sociodemographic characteristics. Confirmatory factor analysis validated six distinct mundane digital harms: wasting time online, digital distraction, school-home blurring, negative social comparison, negative online interactions, and digital fatigue. We observed these harms to co-occur in adolescents' lives. Generally, however, adolescents did not agree with often experiencing them. Girls reported more than boys that they often feel bad after comparing themselves to others online. Younger adolescents reported having negative online interactions and struggling with school-home blurring more often, while older adolescents reported wasting time online and experiencing digital fatigue more often. Time spent on specific digital activities predicted specific harm experiences, albeit weakly. Adolescents who used more disconnection strategies reported higher levels of harms. These findings highlight the need for more nuanced interventions targeting specific harms and subpopulations effectively.