Impact of Screen Time on Cognitive Functioning, Discrimination, and Loneliness among Hearing-impaired Young Adults

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20052793

Saksham Kesarwani and Rebeka Debbarma (Department of Psychology, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab)

Hearing-impaired young adults depend on digital technology for social connectivity and networking, for instance, communicating through video conference or any related medium and for information and knowledge acquisition due to their biological (auditory) limitation. However, this leads to an increase in their time spend on screen that is screen time, which deteriorates their cognitive functioning and mental health. Therefore, the current paper aims to investigate the impact of screen time on cognitive functioning, mainly working memory and attention span, perceived discrimination, and loneliness among hearing-impaired young adults. The study was conducted on 115 hearing-impaired young adults who are admitted to different undergraduate courses in Misra Rehabilitation University, Lucknow, India, specifically dedicated tothe special population. Everyday Discrimination scale was used for discrimination, De Jong Gierveld Scale for Loneliness, Corsi Bloc test for Working memory and Stroop task for attention span have been employed for the data collection. The collected data were analysed using relevant inferential statistics on SPSS v27.1. The results of the present papers illustrate the influential role of high screen time in impairing cognitive functioning skills, specifically low working memory capacity and attention span and in eliciting the feeling of discrimination, while low screen time impacts loneliness. Highlighting a bidirectional role of screen time in cognitive and psychosocial functioning among hearing-impaired young adults. The study suggests a need for preventive digital intervention for better well-being and cognitive functioning for hearing-impaired young adults.