Screen-time is associated with inattention problems in preschoolers: Results from the CHILD birth cohort study
Tamana SK, Ezeugwu V, Chikuma J, Lefebvre DL, Azad MB, Moraes TJ, Subbarao P, Becker AB, Turvey SE, Sears MR, Dick BD, Carson V, Rasmussen C, CHILD study Investigators, Pei J, Mandhane PJ
PloS one · 140 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Controlled clinical trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- Children's Health Research Institute
- University or hospital
- Women and Children's Health Research Institute
- University or hospital
- University of Alberta
- Nonprofit
- AllerGen
- Government
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Government
- CIHR
- Government
- Canadian Institute of Health Research
- University or hospital
- Women and Children’s Health Research Institute
Based on 8 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2019-04-17 · PLoS One · vol. 14 · issue 4 · p. e0213995
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Cited
- 294 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 83.1× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 45 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Child Development and Digital Technology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Early Childhood Education and Development
- Keywords
- screen time, preschool children, inattention, externalizing problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggression, Child Behavior Checklist, mobile devices, video games, early childhood screen exposure
- MeSH
- humans, aggression, child development, parents, cognition, adolescent, adult, child, preschool, infant, canada, female, male
16 authors
From CA
- Sukhpreet K. TamanaUniversity of Alberta
- Victor E. EzeugwuUniversity of Alberta
- Joyce ChikumaUniversity of Alberta
- Diana L. LefebvreMcMaster University
- Meghan B. AzadChildren's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba; University of Manitoba
- Theo J. MoraesUniversity of Toronto; Hospital for Sick Children
Abstract
Background
Pre-school children spend an average of two-hours daily using screens. We examined associations between screen-time on pre-school behavior using data from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study.
Methods
CHILD participant parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at five-years of age. Parents reported their child's total screen-time including gaming and mobile devices. Screen-time was categorized using the recommended threshold of two-hours/day for five-years or one-hour/day for three-years. Multiple linear regression examined associations between screen-time and externalizing behavior (e.g. inattention and aggression). Multiple logistic regression identified characteristics of children at risk for clinically significant externalizing problems (CBCL T-score≥65).
Results
Screen-time was available for over 95% of children (2,322/2,427) with CBCL data. Mean screen-time was 1·4 hours/day (95%CI 1·4, 1·5) at five-years and 1·5 hours/day (95%CI: 1·5, 1·6) at three-years. Compared to children with less than 30-minutes/day screen-time, those watching more than two-hours/day (13·7%) had a 2·2-point increase in externalizing T-score (95%CI: 0·9, 3·5, p≤0·001); a five-fold increased odd for reporting clinically significant externalizing problems (95%CI: 1·0, 25·0, p = 0·05); and were 5·9 times more likely to report clinically significant inattention problems (95%CI: 1·6, 21·5, p = 0·01). Children with a DSM-5 ADHD T-score above the 65 clinical cut-off were considered to have significant ADHD type symptoms (n = 24). Children with more than 2-hours of screen-time/day had a 7·7-fold increased risk of meeting criteria for ADHD (95%CI: 1·6, 38·1, p = 0·01). There was no significant association between screen-time and aggressive behaviors (p>0.05).
Conclusion
Increased screen-time in pre-school is associated with worse inattention problems.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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