Research Protocol for the Google Health Digital Well-being Study

TL;DR

This paper presents a research protocol for a large-scale, representative study on how digital device use affects health and well-being, aiming to address previous research limitations.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive research protocol designed to improve measurement and understanding of digital device impacts on well-being.

Findings

Protocol aims to identify beneficial and harmful usage patterns

Addresses previous research limitations with better sampling and measurement

Supports evidence-based digital product design and policy

Abstract

The impact of digital device use on health and well-being is a pressing question to which individuals, families, schools, policy makers, legislators, and digital designers are all demanding answers. However, the scientific literature on this topic to date is marred by small and/or unrepresentative samples, poor measurement of core constructs (e.g., device use, smartphone addiction), and a limited ability to address the psychological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the relationships between device use and well-being. A number of recent authoritative reviews have made urgent calls for future research projects to address these limitations. The critical role of research is to identify which patterns of use are associated with benefits versus risks, and who is more vulnerable to harmful versus beneficial outcomes, so that we can pursue evidence-based product design, education, and regulation aimed at maximizing benefits and minimizing risks of smartphones and other digital devices. We describe a protocol for a Digital Well-Being (DWB) study to help answer these questions.