In the Moment, Out of Reach? Experience Sampling with Adolescents in the Context of School Smartphone Bans and Shifting Societal Norms

Experience Sampling Method (ESM) research, relying on real-time data collection via mobile devices, provides unique insights into adolescents’ daily lives. However, concerns about digital distraction and overstimulation have led to shifting societal norms and consequently, increased restrictions on smartphone use—both institutionally (e.g., school bans) and informally (e.g., parental rules, self-regulation). These constraints raise questions about the feasibility and ecological validity of using ESM in adolescent samples. In this study, 195 adolescents (Mage = 16.12) participated in a 17-day ESM protocol, completing six prompts daily. Most adolescents reported facing school-based (88%) and parental (56%) smartphone restrictions. Despite these constraints, compliance was moderate to high (M = 78%), and analyses of nonresponse patterns revealed when and why prompts were most likely to be missed. Early morning prompts were often missed due to sleep, late morning prompts due to school, and evening prompts due to work—highlighting the importance of context-sensitive sampling strategies. Moreover, data quality was high: careless responding was rare, and participants reported high levels of integrity and motivation. Most participants evaluated the study as positive, with financial incentives, scientific contribution, and social connection as key motivators. These findings underscore that adolescent ESM studies remain feasible and ecologically valid when protocols are flexibly aligned with real-world constraints. Given that societal norms on digital well-being are in flux and smartphone restrictions intensify, aligning ESM design with adolescents’ everyday realities becomes increasingly essential to preserve both feasibility and ecological validity in research on adolescence.