Longitudinal Risk and Protective Factors for Digital Addiction Among Adolescents: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Background: While digital technology provides significant benefits and opportunities, digital addiction (DA) has emerged as a growing concern, particularly during adolescence—a developmental stage marked by increased vulnerability to social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. Despite growing awareness, research on effective DA prevention strategies remains limited. Identifying longitudinal risk and protective factors that influence DA is crucial for developing targeted prevention efforts. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to synthesize longitudinal studies to identify key risk and protective factors predicting the development of DA among adolescents and quantify their overall impact, offering valuable insights for prevention and intervention strategies.

Methods: Following a comprehensive screening of studies, this meta-analysis included data from 168,768 adolescents (Mean baseline age = 14.59) across 156 longitudinal studies conducted in Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North America. A multilevel meta-analytic approach was used to account for dependency among effect sizes within studies. Cross-lagged regression coefficients were estimated to identify longitudinal risk and protective factors contributing to the development of DA and to quantify the strength of their longitudinal associations.

Results: A total of 35 modifiable risk factors and 26 modifiable protective factors were identified. Most significant factors were located in the intrapersonal domain. Resilience (β = -0.19) was the strongest protective factor, followed by social-emotional competence factors, psychological well-being, school climate, and relationships with parents and teachers (βs = -0.11 to -0.05). In contrast, need frustration (β = 0.16) and social difficulties (β = 0.16) were the strongest risk factors, followed by internalizing and externalizing problems, maladaptive digital use cognitions, and family and school-related stressors (βs = 0.03–0.13).

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this meta-analysis offers the most comprehensive synthesis of longitudinal risk and protective factors of DA to date. While effect sizes were generally small, they were robust by controlling for adolescent baseline DA level. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening protective factors such as resilience and social-emotional competencies, while addressing internalizing problems, maladaptive digital use cognitions, and Internet use gratification as key strategies for DA prevention. The results further suggest a need to shift from restrictive Internet-use controls to resilient strategies that equip adolescents with the competencies to use technology responsively, such as social-emotional learning programs. These findings have important implications for parents, educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers in developing holistic approaches to adolescent digital well-being.