BEYOND SCREEN TIME: DIGITAL DEVICE USE, ADDICTION AWARENESS, AND SELF-REGULATION AMONG MALAYSIAN YOUTH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/JISTM.1144020Keywords:
Digital Addiction, Digital Well-Being, Malaysian Youth, Self-Regulation, Screen TimeAbstract
This article examines digital device use, addiction awareness, and self-regulation among youth in Malaysia through a structured cross-sectional online survey of 528 respondents aged 16–30, recruited using non-probability convenience sampling. The study does not assume that long screen time, by itself, indicates digital addiction. Instead, screen exposure is read alongside purpose of use, perceived risk, behavioural control, and negative consequences. Some 88.07% of respondents reported five or more hours of daily screen use, with smartphones and laptops forming the core of their digital routines. Communication and information search were the leading purposes of use, indicating that much of this engagement was functional and embedded in everyday activities. More than 82% associated digital addiction with an inability to leave screens, while 82.01% understood healthy screen use as balancing digital engagement with other activities. Self-regulation was less consistent: respondents valued balance and prioritisation, yet delayed bedtime, frequent checking, and difficulty reducing screen time remained evident. These patterns do not establish whether respondents were addicted; rather, they show why high screen exposure needs to be interpreted together with behaviour, perceived control, purpose, and consequences. On this basis, the article proposes a conceptual distinction among digital necessity, functional dependency, and digital addiction.
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