Educational digital inequality: A meta-analysis of the relationship between digital device use and academic performance in adolescents

Abstract

Using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 (CMA 3.0), this paper systematically reviews and analyzes 48 empirical studies on the relationship between digital device use and academic performance among adolescents, conducted between 2001 and 2022. It focuses on the types and modes of digital device use (such as categories of device, and location, duration, and purpose of use), and takes into account the inherent variations therein. Overall, it finds a positive correlation between digital device use and adolescent academic performance (r = 0.25). Further, when used for educational purposes, the former is positively correlated with the latter (r = 0.12), but when used for entertainment and socializing, or for gaming, the correlation is negative (r = −0.10; r = −0.16). The longer the duration of digital device use, the lower the academic performance (r = −0.10). Moderating effects reveal that factors such as gender, age, grade level, nationality, data sources, and academic performance measurement tools play a significant influencing role in this relationship.