Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI)
ABSTRACT Objectives We created the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) to measure youth digital activities and the psychological reactions they evoke, established its psychometric properties and tested its validity in predicting mental health relative to screen time estimates. Methods An...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.70028 |
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| author | Katarzyna Kostyrka‐Allchorne Jake Bourgaize Aja Murray Mariya Stoilova Iqra Abbas Amy Bridgwood Eliz Azeri Chris Hollis Ellen Townsend Sonia Livingstone Edmund J. S. Sonuga‐Barke the Digital Youth Research Programme |
| author_facet | Katarzyna Kostyrka‐Allchorne Jake Bourgaize Aja Murray Mariya Stoilova Iqra Abbas Amy Bridgwood Eliz Azeri Chris Hollis Ellen Townsend Sonia Livingstone Edmund J. S. Sonuga‐Barke the Digital Youth Research Programme |
| author_sort | Katarzyna Kostyrka‐Allchorne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Objectives We created the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) to measure youth digital activities and the psychological reactions they evoke, established its psychometric properties and tested its validity in predicting mental health relative to screen time estimates. Methods An initial pool of items was generated using the existing research on youth digital activity and mental health and further refined via consultations with experts and young people (online youth panel sessions, n = 14). The participants (n = 383, mean age = 19 years) completed the resulting DAFI alongside established measures of depression, anxiety, wellbeing, and screen time. The DAFI factor structure, reliability and predictive validity were tested. Results Exploratory factor analyses identified five digital activity subscales: Risky Content, Risky Interactions, Social Comparison, Leisure Activities and Social Engagement and three psychological reactions subscales: Negative Self‐Reactions, Negative Stress Reactions, and Positive Reactions. Internal consistency and test‐retest reliability were high. Social Comparison and Negative Self‐Reactions, but not screen time, independently predicted depression and anxiety symptoms. Positive Reactions, lack of Negative Self‐Reactions, lower screen time and Social Engagement predicted wellbeing. Conclusion The DAFI is a reliable measure of digital activities and associated psychological reactions and predicts youth mental health better than screen time. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1c60fa1244ac4d80b7779892dcbbc4af |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1049-8931 1557-0657 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-1c60fa1244ac4d80b7779892dcbbc4af2025-08-20T03:30:41ZengWileyInternational Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research1049-89311557-06572025-06-01342n/an/a10.1002/mpr.70028Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI)Katarzyna Kostyrka‐Allchorne0Jake Bourgaize1Aja Murray2Mariya Stoilova3Iqra Abbas4Amy Bridgwood5Eliz Azeri6Chris Hollis7Ellen Townsend8Sonia Livingstone9Edmund J. S. Sonuga‐Barke10the Digital Youth Research ProgrammeDepartment of Psychology School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London London UKDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London London UKSchool of Psychology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UKDepartment of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science London UKDepartment of Psychology School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London London UKDepartment of Psychology School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London London UKDepartment of Psychology Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London London UKNational Institute of Health Research (NIHR) MindTech MedTech Research Centre Institute of Mental Health School of Medicine University of Nottingham Nottingham UKSchool of Psychology University of Nottingham Nottingham UKDepartment of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science London UKDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience King's College London London UKABSTRACT Objectives We created the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) to measure youth digital activities and the psychological reactions they evoke, established its psychometric properties and tested its validity in predicting mental health relative to screen time estimates. Methods An initial pool of items was generated using the existing research on youth digital activity and mental health and further refined via consultations with experts and young people (online youth panel sessions, n = 14). The participants (n = 383, mean age = 19 years) completed the resulting DAFI alongside established measures of depression, anxiety, wellbeing, and screen time. The DAFI factor structure, reliability and predictive validity were tested. Results Exploratory factor analyses identified five digital activity subscales: Risky Content, Risky Interactions, Social Comparison, Leisure Activities and Social Engagement and three psychological reactions subscales: Negative Self‐Reactions, Negative Stress Reactions, and Positive Reactions. Internal consistency and test‐retest reliability were high. Social Comparison and Negative Self‐Reactions, but not screen time, independently predicted depression and anxiety symptoms. Positive Reactions, lack of Negative Self‐Reactions, lower screen time and Social Engagement predicted wellbeing. Conclusion The DAFI is a reliable measure of digital activities and associated psychological reactions and predicts youth mental health better than screen time.https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.70028adolescentdigital activitymental healthscreen timewellbeing |
| spellingShingle | Katarzyna Kostyrka‐Allchorne Jake Bourgaize Aja Murray Mariya Stoilova Iqra Abbas Amy Bridgwood Eliz Azeri Chris Hollis Ellen Townsend Sonia Livingstone Edmund J. S. Sonuga‐Barke the Digital Youth Research Programme Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research adolescent digital activity mental health screen time wellbeing |
| title | Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) |
| title_full | Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) |
| title_short | Understanding Youth Online Experiences and Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Digital Activity and Feelings Inventory (DAFI) |
| title_sort | understanding youth online experiences and mental health development and validation of the digital activity and feelings inventory dafi |
| topic | adolescent digital activity mental health screen time wellbeing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.70028 |
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