Digital Technology Use and Life Skills among Eighth-Grade Students: Examining the Role of Purpose and Patterns of Digital Engagement

Abstract

Digital technologies are increasingly embedded in adolescents’ learning, communication, and leisure. Yet their developmental significance may depend not only on duration of use but also on what students do with digital technologies and how they regulate their use. This study examined the relationship between patterns of digital technology use and life skills among eighth-grade students, focusing on study-oriented, communication-oriented, entertainment-oriented, and balanced digital use. A quantitative cross-sectional design was demonstrated using a synthetic dataset of 238 eighth-grade students. Life skills were operationalised across four domains: emotion regulation and self-management, communication and interpersonal skills, problem-solving and decision-making, and empathy and self-awareness. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression were applied. The simulated data showed acceptable internal consistency across the four life-skills domains, while the proposed four-domain structure accounted for a substantial proportion of variance. Purpose-specific digital-use patterns also showed differentiated associations with overall life skills. The findings support a conceptualisation of digital engagement as a developmental context rather than merely a measure of screen exposure. Because the dataset is simulated, the statistical findings are methodological demonstrations and should not be interpreted as empirical evidence concerning Vietnamese students.