Rapid increases in young people’s time spent using digital technology (“screen time”) in the mobile internet era have led to anxiety about long-term effects. This mixed-method US study examines childhood experiences and contextual factors that shape screen time in the transition to adulthood. We recursively analyzed 56 qualitative interviews with young adults in a large metropolitan area in 2016–2018 and prospective longitudinal nationally representative survey data (PSID-CDS-2007 and PSID-TAS-2017) to articulate a conceptual framework of life course influences on young adults’ time spent using digital technologies. Inductive qualitative analyses built an initial framework, which was assessed with quantitative data, then further refined with qualitative analyses. Young adults drew on life course perspectives when discussing influences on their current digital technology use. As they suggested, in quantitative analyses more frequent adolescent technology use and greater device access weakly predicted increased technology frequency. Current school enrollment and several current peer factors predicted technology time. Interviewees emphasized the influence of parenting around technology use during adolescence, but parenting did not predict young adult screen time in quantitative analyses. Further qualitative analyses suggested that instead of influencing current technology time, earlier parenting shaped current emotional responses and imagined future technology use. We found young adults’ technology use frequency to be informed by earlier experiences but highly malleable. Past technology use and current social contexts matter, but only up to a point. Moving beyond time use to incorporate emotional responses and future plans can better capture how the life course shapes technology use.

在移动互联网时代，年轻人使用数字技术（“屏幕时间”）的时间迅速增加，这导致了对长期影响的担忧。美国这项混合方法研究调查了童年经历和影响向成年过渡期间看屏幕时间的背景因素。我们递归分析了 2016-2018 年在一个大都市地区对年轻人进行的 56 次定性访谈和具有全国代表性的前瞻性纵向调查数据（PSID-CDS-2007 和 PSID-TAS-2017），以阐明生命历程对年轻人影响的概念框架' 使用数字技术所花费的时间。归纳定性分析建立了一个初始框架，该框架用定量数据进行评估，然后用定性分析进一步完善。在讨论对当前数字技术使用的影响时，年轻人借鉴了生命历程的观点。正如他们所建议的，在定量分析中，更频繁的青少年技术使用和更多的设备访问微弱地预测了技术频率的增加。目前的学校入学率和几个当前的同行因素预测技术时间。受访者强调了在青春期养育子女对技术使用的影响，但在定量分析中养育子女并不能预测年轻人的屏幕时间。进一步的定性分析表明，较早的养育方式并没有影响当前的技术时间，而是塑造了当前的情绪反应和想象中的未来技术使用。我们发现年轻人的技术使用频率受早期经验的影响，但具有很强的可塑性。过去的技术使用和当前的社会环境很重要，但只是在一定程度上。超越时间使用，将情绪反应和未来计划结合起来，可以更好地捕捉生命历程如何影响技术使用。