Digital PATHS: Digital Practices and Adolescent Thriving in Switzerland

Description

Digital media shape young people's everyday lives and affect their psychosocial health. Today, adolescents navigate digital environments as a matter of course: connecting, entertainment, information-seeking, and self-presentation take place predominantly online, bringing both opportunities (e.g., belonging, new knowledge) and risks (e.g., stress, distraction). While public debate tends to emphasize risks, robust evidence is lacking on how different digital practices affect well-being — negatively or positively —, what the corresponding individual "net effects" are, and which factors are particularly relevant.

The project therefore examines how, when, and in which contexts specific digital practices influence subjective well-being (positive mental health; not equivalent to the absence of mental illness). A longitudinal mobile-diary design captures practices, motives, emotions, and norms (e.g., social pressure) close to the moment and in everyday life ("in situ"). Through repeated measurement across time and context, patterns and differences become visible that reveal the relationships between digital behavior and well-being. In the project, applications are developed together with adolescents, a media-education association, and a nonprofit from the social-media field. The findings deepen the understanding of which digital practices affect adolescents' well-being and how, and provide starting points for risk prevention and, in particular, for fostering positive effects.

Key data