The Role of Digital Technology in Adolescent Autonomy Development: A Four-Factor Model and a Global Perspective

Digital technology plays an important role in adolescents’ and families’ lives, including its impacts on adolescents’ development toward autonomy and independence. Extant literature has mainly treated autonomy as a generic term in the discussion of the influence of digital technology, and there has been a lack of comprehensive understanding about how technology may affect adolescent autonomy development. Accordingly, this chapter adopts a four-factor model of autonomy that includes connectedness, separation, detachment, and agency (Beyers et al., Journal of Youth and Adolescence 32:351–365, 2003) to discuss the positive and negative impacts of technology on each factor. This chapter then takes a global perspective to summarize specific ways in which technology influences adolescents’ autonomy and related family dynamics by intentionally including research evidence from non-U.S. countries. This chapter concludes with important future directions for a better understanding about digital technology and autonomy development during adolescence.