Screen time and problem behaviors in children: exploring the mediating role of sleep duration
Guerrero MD, Barnes JD, Chaput JP, Tremblay MS
The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 131 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Nonprofit
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
- Government
- National Institutes of Health
- Government
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Government
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Government
- NIDA NIH HHS
- Grants
- National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041134); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01 DA041022); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041048); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA041120); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U24 DA041123); National Institutes of Health (U01D A041174); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041022); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041134); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041117); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01 DA041156); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041156, U01DA041174, U24DA041123, and U24DA041147); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA041028); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041120); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041174); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01 DA041174); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA041134); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U24DA041123); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA041089); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041089); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041048); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041148); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01 DA041117); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041022); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041028); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041089); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041156); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA041148); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041106); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041156); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041022, U01DA041028, U01DA041048, U01DA041089, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041120, U01DA041134, U01DA041148, U01DA041156, U01DA041174, U24DA041123, and U24DA041147); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA041048); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041148); National Institute of Mental Health (U01 DA041174); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041117); National Institute of Mental Health (U24DA041147); National Institute of Mental Health (U24 DA041123); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01 DA041106); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (U01DA041106); National Institute on Drug Abuse (U24 DA041147); National Institutes of Health (U01DA04 1120); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (and U24DA041147); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041120); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041028); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041117); National Institutes of Health (U01DA 041134); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041022); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041022, U01DA041028, U01DA041048, U01DA041089, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041120, U01DA041134, U01DA041148, U01DA041156, U01DA041174, U24DA041123, and U24DA041147); National Institutes of Health (U24DA041123); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041148); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041089); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041106); National Institutes of Health (U01 DA041156); National Institutes of Health (U24DA041147); National Institutes of Health (U01DA041048); National Institute of Mental Health (U01DA041028)
Based on 5 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2019-11-14 · Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act · vol. 16 · issue 1 · p. 105
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Cited
- 252 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 44.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 33 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Child Development and Digital Technology · Sleep and related disorders · Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- screen time, sleep duration, behavioral problems, children, mediation, television, video games, social media, aggression, rule violations, social problems, somatic symptoms, thought problems, sleep disorders, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
- MeSH
- humans, cross-sectional studies, aggression, sleep, child, united states, problem behavior, screen time
4 authors
From CA
- Michelle Guerrero · correspondingChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
- Joel D. BarnesChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
- Jean‐Philippe ChaputUniversity of Ottawa; Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
- Mark Stephen TremblayUniversity of Ottawa; Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Abstract
Background
Previous research examining the relationship between screen time (ST) and psychological health outcomes have primarily focused on one type of ST (i.e., television), while little research has considered other types of screens (e.g., videos, movies, social media), screen content (e.g., violent video games), or potential mediating variables. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to assess ST types and content and their association with problem behaviors, and to determine whether these relationships were mediated by sleep duration.
Methods
Parents and children provided cross-sectional baseline data (2016-18) as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, a broadly US representative sample of 11,875 children aged 9 to 10 years. Parents self-reported their children's emotional and behavioral syndromes via the Child Behavior Checklist and sleep duration using one item from the Parent Sleep Disturbance Scale. Children self-reported their ST behavior, which comprised ST types (television/movies, videos, video games, and social media) and content (mature-rated video games and R-rated movies).
Results
Time spent in various ST types was positively associated with problem behaviors: watching television/movies was associated with a 5.9% increase in rule-breaking behavior (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.059), 5% increase in social problems (IRR = 1.050), 4% increase in aggressive behavior (IRR = 1.040), and 3.7% increase in thought problems (IRR = 1.037). Greater time spent playing mature-rated video games was associated with greater somatic complaints (IRR = 1.041), aggressive behavior (IRR = 1.039), and reduced sleep duration (IRR = .938). Sleep duration mediated the relationship between ST (type and content) and problem behaviors, albeit the effect sizes were small. The largest effects were observed between sleep duration and all problem behaviors, with greater sleep duration predicting an 8.8-16.6% decrease in problem behaviors (IRRs ranging from .834 to .905).
Conclusion
Greater time spent in ST behavior was associated with greater problem behaviors among children. There was strong evidence that longer sleep duration was associated with reduced problem behaviors. While sleep duration mediated the effects of ST on problem behaviors, other potential mediating variables need to be investigated in future research.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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