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. 2023 Jan;28(1):338-353.
doi: 10.1177/13591045221145400. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

The clinical implications of digital technology

Saam Idelji-Tehrani  1 , Bernadka Dubicka  2   3   4 , Richard Graham  5   6   7
Affiliations

The clinical implications of digital technology

Saam Idelji-Tehrani et al. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

The proliferation of digital technology within the lives of children and young people (CYP) provides arguably one of the most significant clinical and ethical paradigm shifts in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. One can argue that mental health research has taken a myopic approach to understanding the interaction between young people's technology use and their mental health. Mental health clinicians also need a better understanding of the digital lives of CYP and how technology may be supporting or harming their mental health. Within this paper, we argue that greater longitudinal research is required, particularly in vulnerable groups, and that there is an essential need for a standardised digital use assessment (DUA) tool, which assimilates CYP use of technology and their vulnerabilities/resilience to online risks. We subsequently offer a series of questions clinicians can use to explore technology use by CYP. Such an aide memoire may empower clinicians to have wider discussions around digital technology use with CYP, while also helping to develop appropriate safety and management plans.

Keywords: CAMHS; adolescent; children; dark web; digital technology; internet; mental health; psychiatry; social media.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow-chart to demonstrate how the Digital Use Assessment (DUA) could be incorporated into care plans for CYP
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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