Interesting findings. This makes me wonder how adolescent "unstructured leisure time" has changed historically since the internet/computers entered the scene. These days, without structure, adolescents seem drawn to tech use because of how easily accessible it is, and how rewarding it can feel in the moment.

I wonder whether there's something to the idea of promoting "unstructured non-tech use time". I know how thinly stretched parents can feel, and how parents can feel the urge to drive kids/teens to all these structured activities. It makes me wonder how helpful it is for parents to make sure teens are always have enough structured "activities" to engage in. I suppose I'm wondering what amount of structure is needed - whether it needs to be specific activities like soccer leagues or chess club, or if it could be more informal. I suppose another research article could examine this!

Really interesting insights Sharon! I think this might be worth thinking about how society has changed. It used to be unstructured time when technology wasn't as prevalent meant kids would go outside and play with the neighbors or their friends and learn how to socialize/interact in person there. With the rise of technology, it's less effort to just socialize at home on your phone/computer for the same effect and there might be fewer kids out and about to go and socialize in person even if you wanted to build in that unstructured time for activities! This type of thing can impact our decisions of if we create more structured or unstructured time based on what we're able to do and how easy it is to do it. As technology progresses, we might think about how this continues to change and try to steer it in directions we want it to go (as much as we have influence on society that is).