Excessive users of digital devices for recreation report higher levels of digital anxiety than more moderate users. Digital anxiety accounts for some of the observed difference in performance and sense of belonging between these two groups.
Finite time to learn and play
Whole student development and students’ digital leisure outside of school
This section looks at how digital anxiety1 relates to the relationship between excessive time spent on digital leisure, and students’ academic performance and sense of belonging at school. When digital anxiety is taken into account, the gap in mathematics scores and sense of belonging between students who spend excessive time on digital leisure and those who spend a moderate amount tends to be smaller in most PISA-participating countries. However, digital anxiety explains only a small part of this difference.
An average of 16% of students across OECD countries reported feeling anxious or nervous more than half of the time when their digital device is not nearby (see Table II. B1.5.46). Among those spending an excessive amount of time on digital leisure activities (more than four hours before or after school), over a quarter of students reported a dependency on, and anxiety related to, their digital device (see Figure 4.1). In Türkiye, 45% of students who spend 4 hours or more on digital devices before or after school reported suffering from digital anxiety (see Figure 4.1).
Percentage of students who reported feeling anxious or nervous more than half of the time when their digital device is not near them, by use of digital devices for leisure before or after school
Note: Only countries and economies with available data are shown. Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the percentage of students anxious or nervous more than half of the time when their digital device is not near them among moderate users of digital devices for leisure before or after school.
Source: OECD, PISA 2022 Database, Table 4.1.
Notably, in half PISA-participating countries and economies, more than one in five students who reported spending no time on digital devices for recreation experienced higher levels of digital anxiety (see Table 4.1). On average, 19% of students across OECD countries who reported spending no time on digital devices for recreation before or after school feel anxious when their digital devices are not nearby, compared to less than 15% for moderate users of digital devices (see Figure 4.2). This indicates that students who do not spend time on digital recreation may, in part, have external constraints from doing so because their parents do not allow it (because their children’s level of digital anxiety is high or for other reasons), or they do not have leisure time.
Percentage of students who reported feeling anxious or nervous more than half of the time when their digital device is not near them, by time spent on digital devices for leisure; OECD average
Note: The categories of time are delimited such that the lower limit is not included and the upper limit is included. For instance "1 to 2 hours" means "above one hour and up to two hours of use"
Source: OECD, PISA 2022 Database, Table 4.1.
Across most PISA-participating countries and economies, the score differences in mathematics between moderate and excessive users of digital devices for leisure before or after school decreases slightly but remains significant when accounting for digital anxiety (three points lower on average across OECD countries) (see Figure 4.3). This means that digital anxiety may partially contribute to the negative correlation between mathematics performance and more than four hours of daily digital leisure time. The more students report feeling nervous when their digital devices is not nearby, the more they are distracted from learning (see PISA 2022 Volume II, Box 2.5.1). In Hungary, where the difference in mathematics performance between excessive users of digital devices and moderate users is the highest (-29 score points), digital anxiety accounts for about 5 points of the decrease in performance. In three PISA-participating countries, namely the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Brunei Darussalam, excessive users of digital devices for leisure outperformed moderate users both before and after accounting for digital anxiety (see Figure 4.3).
Difference in mathematics performance between students who reported to spend more than 4 hours per day on digital devices for leisure before or after school and those who spend between 2 and 4 hours
Notes: Only countries and economies with available data are shown. Statistically significant differences between students who spent more than 4 hours a day and those who spent between 2 and 4 hours a day are shown in a darker tone (see Reader’s Guide). Digital anxiety is measured by students feeling nervous/anxious when they don’t have their digital device near them more than half of the time. Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the difference in mathematics performance between students who spent more than 4 hours a day on digital devices for leisure before or after school and those who spent between 2 and 4 hours before accounting for digital anxiety.
Source: OECD, PISA 2022 Database, Table 4.2.
In 19 countries participating in PISA 2022, the gaps in sense of belonging at school among excessive users of digital devices for leisure and moderate users reduce slightly when accounting for students’ anxiety in using digital devices. Among OECD countries on average, the difference in the index of sense of belonging at school between excessive users of digital devices and moderate users is -0.09 points before accounting for digital anxiety; it reduces to -0.07 when it is accounted for. This effect is more pronounced – albeit remaining small overall – in Austria, Switzerland, Estonia, Lithuania and Norway where the gap reduces by at least 0.03 points when accounting for digital anxiety (see Table 4.3).
While overall life satisfaction decreases with excessive use of digital devices for leisure (see Figure 2.5), it is worth noting that digital anxiety relates to lower life satisfaction even among 15-year-olds who spend relatively little time on digital leisure activities. Students across OECD countries who reported feeling nervous or anxious more than half of the time without their digital device nearby have, on average, significantly lower levels of life satisfaction than those who do not, regardless of the amount of time they spend on digital devices (see Table 4.4). In the United Kingdom*, for instance, among students who reported spending only up to an hour a day on the weekend on digital devices for leisure, those who reported suffering high levels of digital anxiety also reported significantly lower life satisfaction (-1.88 points) than their peers. Similarly, among those who spend more than 7 hours on a weekend day on digital devices for leisure, those who suffer from high digital anxiety reported significantly lower levels of life satisfaction on average (-1.30 points) than those who do not (see Table 4.4).
← 1. Digital anxiety in this paper refers to feeling anxious or nervous more than half of the time when students’ digital device is not nearby.