Temporal patterns of adolescent screen time and compulsive internet use in Moroccan high school students

• First LCA of adolescent screen time patterns in a Moroccan context. • Weekend peaks strongly linked to compulsive internet use scores. • Combined LCA and latent growth modeling to capture temporal variability. • Boys spent more time gaming; girls favored social media platforms. • Findings inform culturally tailored prevention and policy strategies. Objective : Although compulsive internet use reflects interactions between personal vulnerabilities and situational triggers, adolescents’ day-to-day screen time patterns, especially in non-Western contexts, remain understudied. We aim to examine temporal patterns of screen time among Moroccan adolescents and their associations with compulsive internet use (CIU) and sociodemographic factors. Methods : This study uses an intensive daily design to capture short-term fluctuations in screen use across a week, identifying weekday–weekend shifts and other dynamics. A total of 334 Moroccan high school students (M age = 16.02 years, 52 % female) from three public schools in urban and rural areas reported their daily screen time and CIU over seven consecutive days, their platform-specific usage and their scores on the CIUS. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify subgroups with distinct weekly trajectories, and latent growth modeling (LGM) was used to assess temporal change. Linear mixed-effects models tested predictors, including age, sex, CIUS scores, school type, device preference, and primary internet activity. Results : Two distinct usage profiles emerged: steady-low and weekend-high. The weekend-high profile was more common among older girls and showed strong Sunday peaks. Mixed-effects and latent class models showed that higher CIUS scores, being female, and the day of the week (especially Sunday, with an increase of 74 min compared to weekdays) predicted heavier, multi-platform engagement. Conclusions : Moroccan adolescents show heterogeneous temporal patterns of screen use, with compulsive use linked to heavier, weekend-centered engagement. Prevention efforts should target overall exposure and high-risk time windows, especially on weekends.