Pia Kreijkes

Lim, C. H. J., & Kreijkes, P. (2026). Gaming and social media browsing: Evidence of links to wellbeing among girls and boys based on data from PISA 2022. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, 41, 9–31. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.127730

Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, this article examines how time spent browsing social media and gaming relates to seven aspects of adolescent wellbeing: school belonging, body image, general wellbeing, feeling of safety, life satisfaction, psychosomatic symptoms, and stress resilience. Descriptive statistics and regression modelling were used to examine these associations. To evaluate their practical significance, we also calculated relative risks and compared the correlation coefficients with those between being bullied and wellbeing. Firstly, we found that psychosomatic symptoms, such as anxiety, sleep difficulties, and headaches, showed a consistently negative association with time spent browsing social media, even after controlling for student background characteristics. The strength of this correlation was equivalent to 63 per cent of that between bullying and psychosomatic symptoms among girls and 48 per cent among boys. Adolescents who browsed for more than three hours daily were about 50 per cent more likely to fall within the top quartile experiencing psychosomatic symptoms compared to same-gender peers who browsed less. Negative associations were observed with time spent gaming, though to a lesser extent. Secondly, browsing social media for more than three hours a day increased the likelihood of scoring in the lowest quartile for body image, wellbeing, and life satisfaction by about 20 per cent for girls, but not for boys. Lastly, while some positive links were found between social media browsing and sense of school belonging, these instances were rare, and their strength was outweighed by the negative associations with other wellbeing aspects.

• Foreword Jane Mann
• Editorial Victoria Crisp
• In This Issue Victoria Crisp
• Gaming and social media browsing: Evidence of links to wellbeing among girls and boys based on data from PISA 2022Carmen H. J. Lim and Pia Kreijkes
• The impact of A Level exam scheduling on performanceTim Gill
• Mode effects in digital versus paper-based exams and their relationship with item characteristicsCarmen H. J. Lim, Carmen L. Vidal Rodeiro and Tim Gill
• Predicting success in vocational education and training: Insights from literatureAnnaliese Micallef Grimaud
• How does examining influence teachers’ assessment literacy?Victoria Coleman and Martin Johnson
• Research NewsLisa Bowett and Jackie White

Kreijkes et al. (2026). Effects of LLM use and note-taking on reading comprehension and memory: A randomised experiment in secondary schools. Computers & Education. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131525002829

Kreijkes, P., & Greatorex, J. (2024). Differential effects of subject-based and integrated curriculum approaches on students' learning outcomes: A review of reviews. Review of Education, 12, e3465.

Yu, J., Kreijkes, P., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2023). Interconnected trajectories of achievement goals, academic achievement, and well-being: Insights from an expanded goal framework. Learning and Individual Differences, 108.

Yu, J., Kreijkes, P., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2022). Students’ growth mindset: Relation to teacher beliefs, teaching practices, and school climate. Learning and Instruction, 80.

Kreijkes, P. (2023, September 12–14). Differential effects of subject-based and integrated curriculum approaches on students’ experiences and outcomes: A review of reviews [Paper presentation]. Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), Aston University, UK.

Kreijkes, P., & Johnson, M. (2023). Who controls what and how? A comparison of regulation and autonomy in the UK nations’ education systems. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, 35, 60-79.

In this paper we explore the concept of the middle tier in education systems, outlining how it is a crucial element that links high-level education policy to the practices that are carried out in schools. Reflecting on the similarities and differences in the profiles of the middle tiers of the four nations of the United Kingdom (UK), we observe how they are part of a complex educational ecosystem. While noting that there are variations in the profiles of the middle tiers we also highlight how they share some common functions that are key to mediating the way that policy links with schools. Using a four nations comparative approach to analyse the middle tier allows us a more nuanced understanding of how education policy works in general, but also how policy works in each particular national context.

• Foreword Tim Oates
• Editorial Tom Bramley
• Creating Cambridge Learner Profiles: A holistic framework for teacher insights from assessments and evaluationsIrenka Suto
• A conceptual approach to validating competence frameworksSimon Child, Stuart Shaw
• Teachers’ and students’ views of access arrangements in high stakes examinationsCarmen Vidal Rodeiro, Sylwia Macinska
• Who controls what and how? A comparison of regulation and autonomy in the UK nations’ education systemsPia Kreijkes, Martin Johnson
• Assessment in England at a crossroads: which way should we go?Tony Leech
• Research NewsLisa Bowett

Kreijkes, P. (2022). A Bird’s-Eye View of Curriculum Publications Concerning Seven Countries: A Bibliometric Analysis. ISSN: 2188-1162 The European Conference on Education 2022: Official Conference Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2022.29