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Most young Canadian adolescents have access to a smartphone, as revealed by the findings of a nationally representative sample reporting in 2018 that over half (55%) of 10 to 13 year-old and 77% of 14 to 15 year-old children have their own smartphone (Brisson-Boivin, 2018). However, Canadian adolescents are not alone in their high engagement with digital technology. In the United States, over 95% of adolescents currently have access to a mobile phone, with 13 to 18 yearold adolescents reporting that they spend, on average, seven and a half hours per day viewing digital entertainment media (not including time spent online for education)(Rideout & Robb, 2018).

As adults have watched device use and time online increase among adolescents, fears about how this seemingly “constant connectivity” is influencing many aspects of young people’s lives has also risen. Claims have been made that smartphone and social media use have led to a wide range of problems, ranging from increased obesity to changes in adolescent sexual behavior and deficits in social skills (Orben, 2020a). However, one of the most alarming claims has been that screen time and, more recently, social media use is contributing to increasing mental health problems among adolescents, including rises in depression and suicidal behaviors among young girls in particular (Twenge, 2020; Twenge, Joiner, Rogers, & Martin, 2018).