Use of technology and its association with academic performance and life satisfaction among children and adolescents

Background: Lately, there has been a rise in the use of technology among children and adolescents, which has led to a greater concern about its impact on their socioemotional and cognitive development. Objective: This study aims to explore the time spend using technology, the risk perception of its use by students, and the association between frequency of technology use and life satisfaction and academic performance among children and adolescents in Chile. Additionally, we explored the mediating effect of sleep deprivation on these outcomes. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, where 2,440 students (9-12 years old) from 13 schools participated. First, a descriptive analysis was performed. Then, we explored the association between time spent using technological devices and other risk behaviors and self-reported grade point average and life satisfaction as dependent variables. Finally, we explored the mediation role of sleep deprivation in the association between time spent using technological devices and any of the outcomes using structural equation modeling. Results: Time spent using cell phones and playing video games was only associated with self-reported academic performance. Conclusions: Time spent using technological devices was not associated with life satisfaction; however, the time spent using cell phones and playing video games was related to self-reported academic performance. There was a clear mediating effect of sleep deprivation in the relationship between time spent using a cellphone and playing video games and GPA. Future research may focus on other mechanisms involved in the impact of using technological devices and academic performance.