A Pilot Investigation of Media Multitasking and Trauma Symptoms Among Adolescents

Abstract

Effective prevention and intervention for trauma symptoms are still needed, particularly for adolescents, in whom high-risk behavior is common. This pilot study examines how media multitasking may be related to trauma symptoms in a sample of adolescent college students (N = 55). Results indicate that higher media multitasking is uniquely and independently associated with higher trauma symptoms. These results hold even after controlling for alcohol intoxication, which is commonly associated with trauma symptoms. Adolescents may be more forthcoming in revealing information about media multitasking than other behaviors commonly associated with trauma symptoms, such as alcohol and drug use. The present study provides the first evidence that media multitasking could be an additional tool for clinicians treating adolescents with trauma symptoms.

Keywords:

• Trauma symptoms
• media multitasking
• alcohol
• adolescence

Additional information

Funding

There is no outside funding source. This research was supported by startup funds from the Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC.