Abstract

In recent years, a considerable amount of research has explored the negative effects associated with the use of ICTs and linked it to several health issues that can pose consequences at the social level as well as on an individual level. Despite the negative effects, the use of ICTs also provides a range of benefits and researchers are in particular interested in how we can help young people with obtaining a beneficial digital engagement with ICTs. Motivated by the advantages ICTs bring, a new concept named Digital Maturity has been proposed. Digital maturity is a multidimensional concept that consists of three capabilities. The first capability focuses on young people’s ability to make autonomous choices about using mobile devices and exercising autonomy within digital contexts. The second capability involves digital literacy, individual growth in digital contexts, digital risk awareness, and support-seeking regarding digital problems. Finally, the third capability consists of the regulation of negative emotions and aggressive impulses in digital contexts, respect towards others in digital contexts, and digital citizenship for adequate interaction with others and contribution to society. To measure digital maturity based on these ten dimensions, a composite index named digital maturity inventory (DIMI) has been constructed. As a composite index, DIMI can be used to gain an overview of the aggregated level of digital maturity in young people in a country or region by applying experts’ opinions on how much weight each dimension should be given. The challenge that remains in the construction of composite indexes is that expert’s proposed weights not always are in line with the relative importance of the synthesized dimensions. In this paper, we examine the optimal interplay between the ten dimensions from a data-driven perspective with an interest in obtaining an optimal fit for predicting young peoples’ digital maturity. Our result demonstrates a misfit between experts’ opinions and the importance of competencies. Thus, we propose an adjustment of the DIMI based on our empirical evidence and real-world data.

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