Practically Speaking: Behind the Episode: Not a Fair Fight - Digital Media Addiction in Youth
What a relief that I grew up mostly before the Internet age and well before the introduction of smartphones. Adolescent me would have done some real damage with online shopping and might have even become an online stalker of my favorite celebrities. And that’s only if I survived the FOMO (fear of missing out) and cyberbullying that pervades social media. Knowing myself, that would have been a recipe for disaster.
Listen to the full discussion here: Not a Fair Fight - Digital Media Addiction in Youth
While I was safe from the siren call of digital media, today’s youth hear it loud and clear through their earbuds. We’re all bombarded with digital media, regardless of our age, whether it’s at work, school, during travel, or in our free time. It’s not unusual to turn off our work computers, log into our smartphones for doom scrolling before choosing an online recipe to cook for dinner, and then taking our tablets to bed for reading or gaming. And that’s by design. Effective digital media content is engaging, stimulating, and activates the reward centers of our brains.
Online platforms are designed to capture attention using algorithms that tailor content to our individual preferences, keeping us engaged for longer periods. From a behavioral standpoint, notifications —like seeing who interacted with a post— provide a variable schedule of reinforcement….which is the hardest pattern to break. This is the same schedule of reinforcement that makes gambling so addictive. Moreover, FOMO encourages continuous scrolling and checking in. The combination of accessibility, personalization, and social interaction makes it easy to lose track of time and difficult to disengage.
While this is potentially detrimental enough for adults, children and teens are even more susceptible. Digital media can be especially harmful for youth because their brains are still developing, making them more vulnerable to addiction and its effects. The constant stimulation from social media, games, and videos can disrupt attention spans, sleep patterns, and emotional regulation. Youth are hyperfocused on peer approval and social comparison, which digital platforms amplify. This can spur anxiety, low self-esteem, and even depression. Excessive screen time can also reduce time spent on important offline activities like physical activity, face-to-face interaction, and academic work. Also concerning, youth may lack the critical thinking skills to navigate online content responsibly, making them more susceptible to misinformation, cyberbullying, and unhealthy behavioral patterns.
In our latest episode, we try to wrap our heads around this topic with help from Dr. Amanda Giordano. Dr. Giordano has focused her career on behavioral addiction and has a wealth of knowledge about digital media addiction, in particular. On this episode of Practical for Your Practice, she shares the unique qualities of digital media that make it addictive, discusses why youth are especially vulnerable to compulsive media engagement, and shares tips for how to work with families to maintain healthy engagement. Listen in to get practical ideas for assessing and working with digital media addiction in your practice.
And if you want to hear more (which I know you do!), register NOW for Dr. Giordano’s pre-meeting institute (PMI) presentation at CDP’s Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Conference on 6 May 2025. Her PMI is titled “Understanding Digital Media Addiction in Youth.” Register here before space runs out: https://deploymentpsych.org/EBPConference
Listen to the full discussion here: Not a Fair Fight - Digital Media Addiction in Youth
The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.
Carin Lefkowitz, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist and Senior Military Behavioral Health Psychologist at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Lefkowitz earned her M.A. and Psy.D. in clinical psychology at Widener University, with a concentration in cognitive-behavioral therapy.
What a relief that I grew up mostly before the Internet age and well before the introduction of smartphones. Adolescent me would have done some real damage with online shopping and might have even become an online stalker of my favorite celebrities. And that’s only if I survived the FOMO (fear of missing out) and cyberbullying that pervades social media. Knowing myself, that would have been a recipe for disaster.
Listen to the full discussion here: Not a Fair Fight - Digital Media Addiction in Youth
While I was safe from the siren call of digital media, today’s youth hear it loud and clear through their earbuds. We’re all bombarded with digital media, regardless of our age, whether it’s at work, school, during travel, or in our free time. It’s not unusual to turn off our work computers, log into our smartphones for doom scrolling before choosing an online recipe to cook for dinner, and then taking our tablets to bed for reading or gaming. And that’s by design. Effective digital media content is engaging, stimulating, and activates the reward centers of our brains.
Online platforms are designed to capture attention using algorithms that tailor content to our individual preferences, keeping us engaged for longer periods. From a behavioral standpoint, notifications —like seeing who interacted with a post— provide a variable schedule of reinforcement….which is the hardest pattern to break. This is the same schedule of reinforcement that makes gambling so addictive. Moreover, FOMO encourages continuous scrolling and checking in. The combination of accessibility, personalization, and social interaction makes it easy to lose track of time and difficult to disengage.
While this is potentially detrimental enough for adults, children and teens are even more susceptible. Digital media can be especially harmful for youth because their brains are still developing, making them more vulnerable to addiction and its effects. The constant stimulation from social media, games, and videos can disrupt attention spans, sleep patterns, and emotional regulation. Youth are hyperfocused on peer approval and social comparison, which digital platforms amplify. This can spur anxiety, low self-esteem, and even depression. Excessive screen time can also reduce time spent on important offline activities like physical activity, face-to-face interaction, and academic work. Also concerning, youth may lack the critical thinking skills to navigate online content responsibly, making them more susceptible to misinformation, cyberbullying, and unhealthy behavioral patterns.
In our latest episode, we try to wrap our heads around this topic with help from Dr. Amanda Giordano. Dr. Giordano has focused her career on behavioral addiction and has a wealth of knowledge about digital media addiction, in particular. On this episode of Practical for Your Practice, she shares the unique qualities of digital media that make it addictive, discusses why youth are especially vulnerable to compulsive media engagement, and shares tips for how to work with families to maintain healthy engagement. Listen in to get practical ideas for assessing and working with digital media addiction in your practice.
And if you want to hear more (which I know you do!), register NOW for Dr. Giordano’s pre-meeting institute (PMI) presentation at CDP’s Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Conference on 6 May 2025. Her PMI is titled “Understanding Digital Media Addiction in Youth.” Register here before space runs out: https://deploymentpsych.org/EBPConference
Listen to the full discussion here: Not a Fair Fight - Digital Media Addiction in Youth
The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.
Carin Lefkowitz, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist and Senior Military Behavioral Health Psychologist at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Lefkowitz earned her M.A. and Psy.D. in clinical psychology at Widener University, with a concentration in cognitive-behavioral therapy.