Digital Stress In Children And Adolescents: 3 Guidelines To Manage It
The digital stress produced by the excessive use of technology affects the health, academic performance and personal relationships of children and adolescents. This use of technology is becoming more and more extensive and is replacing other activities that were previously attractive to them, such as reading, sports, family games, etc.
This need to be connected 24 hours a day to see social networks is affecting the way in which children interact in the family and social sphere. In addition, the current world situation due to the health crisis and the forced adaptation that education has had to have to the digital world have substantially increased the time dedicated to technology.
What do we mean when we talk about digital stress?
We speak of digital stress when we refer to the reactions triggered in the organism in situations of emotional and physical tension, produced by an excessive use of the digital environment.
As we all know, stress helps us prepare the body to deal with situations in which we need to act. So when does the problem arise? When the person does not react in an adequate way to that certain situation or it lasts over time and ends up becoming a chronic problem.
Although stress prepares us for success, it can become a problem if we do not interpret the signals that the body gives us well and assume them as something harmful, this will prevent us from adequately facing the problem or situation in question. Students need to know how to manage these stress levels to their advantage and not be carried away by the negative effects.
How does stress affect children and adolescents?
When children and adolescents are subjected to this digital stress and do not know how to deal with it, it will have direct effects on the following aspects of their lives:
- School performance : the production of noradrenaline and adrenaline when we are stressed makes us unable to focus our attention and, therefore, hinders learning.
- Personal relationships : excessive use of the digital environment makes them withdraw into themselves, spending almost all their time on technology. In this way, social and family relationships are totally relegated to the background.
- Information memorization and retrieval problems : mainly due to excess cortisol production.
- Making less thoughtful and more emotional decisions : in stressful situations, the amygdala takes over the decisions and, therefore, these are less thoughtful and more emotional.
What role do stressors play in digital stress in children and adolescents?
What do we mean when we talk about stressors? We refer to the stimuli, situations or conditions that produce stress in people. In the present case, we are going to see which are the most important stressors that produce digital stress.
Permanent connection
Many children and adolescents spend most of the day connected, either through social networks (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, etc.), or because, due to the situation we are going through, they have to be connected by video calls with their teachers.
In those moments when they are not with the mobile, they may be watching television, playing video consoles, etc. Therefore, they are in a permanent connection, except for the hours of sleep.
Fears and phobias associated with the digital environment
The excessive use of technological tools is producing phobias related to the lack of these tools. There are adolescents who end up developing an excessive fear of being without a mobile for a while ( nomophobia ). The irrational fear may also appear that, in the period that they are not looking at the mobile, something will happen in the digital environment and they will miss it.
Irrational thoughts and anticipated failure
This digital stress produced by uncontrolled use of technology also causes children or adolescents to have irrational or failure thoughts. They may come to think that if they do not carry their mobile, they may fail in their social relationships, or that something bad may happen and they have no way of calling anyone for help. They are capable of looking for any justification to remain connected to the mobile.
These are some of the stressors that make children and adolescents pay continuous attention to their electronic devices, causing them to never end mentally disconnecting at any time.
What can we do to face the digital stress of children and adolescents?
Families and schools can be very useful in helping children to identify, anticipate and cope with this digital stress that we are talking about. If we want this help to be effective, we must focus on three aspects that can be done in parallel:
Take advantage of low and medium intensity stress
Our performance when we are under pressure is always greater than when we are not, and this is something that children and adolescents should know. Let’s take advantage of those stressful moments to improve their performance and effectiveness in what they do.
Identify which are the stressors to intervene on them
Once we know what causes digital stress, we have to work on them to reduce the effect they have on children and adolescents. We can set standards for the use of technology that detach our children from this, in such a way that it is not suddenly and makes them feel bad. The question is to have a good hygiene of the use of technology.
In situations of chronic or high intensity digital stress, strengthen yourself
On many occasions, stress ends up becoming chronic due to its prolongation over time. When our body is subjected to high stress, it generates more adrenaline and cortisol, which can end up causing problems and difficulties when it comes to successfully completing school assignments or exams. It is important that we use that stress to strengthen ourselves and use it to our advantage to perform better.
On digital stress….
Ultimately, digital stress can affect performance and cause problems for children and teens. For this reason, it is important that we see to what extent it is affecting them and take measures, always bearing in mind that it is more effective to take them in advance and as a prevention.
If you think that your child has a digital stress problem and that it has become chronic and you do not know how to act, seek the help of a professional who will give you the necessary guidance to solve this problem.
