Sleep as a Mediator of Screen Time Effects on US Children's Health Outcomes

There is growing concern regarding the influence of media exposure on American children's health and development. The current prospective study tested the direct relations between media exposure, sleep, and various health outcomes (e.g. attention problems, aggression, and body composition) and the indirect effect of media exposure through sleep disturbances. Child participants (N = 1,317) completed measures of media consumption and sleep. Teachers reported on children's attention problems and use of physical aggression. Results showed that media exposure at Time 1 was indirectly related to attention, physical aggression, and Body Mass Index at Time 3 (13 months later), mediated by sleep at Time 2. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that screen time is negatively related to health outcomes, and that displaced sleep is one of the mediating mechanisms underlying these relations.

[1]  G. Kamimori,et al.  Sleep deprivation adversely affects interpersonal responses to frustration , 2006 .

[2]  T. Porkka-Heiskanen,et al.  Short Sleep Duration and Behavioral Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Healthy 7- to 8-Year-Old Children , 2009, Pediatrics.

[3]  R. Roth,et al.  The Mediating Role of Executive Functioning in the Relation Between Difficult Temperament and Physical Aggression , 2006 .

[4]  Herbert Heuer,et al.  The Effects of Total Sleep Deprivation on the Generation of Random Sequences of Key-Presses, Numbers and Nouns , 2005, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[5]  Wenyaw Chan,et al.  Is obesity associated with poor sleep quality in adolescents? , 2002, American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council.

[6]  V. Rideout,et al.  Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds , 2010 .

[7]  K. Spiegel,et al.  Brief Communication: Sleep Curtailment in Healthy Young Men Is Associated with Decreased Leptin Levels, Elevated Ghrelin Levels, and Increased Hunger and Appetite , 2004, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[8]  Richie Poulton,et al.  Childhood Sleep Time and Long-Term Risk for Obesity: A 32-Year Prospective Birth Cohort Study , 2008, Pediatrics.

[9]  P. Chan,et al.  A cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents , 2006, Annals of general psychiatry.

[10]  Jan Van den Bulck,et al.  Television viewing, computer game playing, and Internet use and self-reported time to bed and time out of bed in secondary-school children. , 2004, Sleep.

[11]  M. Carskadon,et al.  Experimental restriction of sleep opportunity in children: effects on teacher ratings. , 2005, Sleep.

[12]  R. Paffenbarger,et al.  An Introduction to the Journal of Physical Activity and Health , 2004 .

[13]  Katherine E. Buckley,et al.  Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy , 2007 .

[14]  S. Hofferth.  Media Use vs. Work and Play in Middle Childhood , 2009 .

[15]  Shumei S. Guo,et al.  2000 CDC Growth Charts for the United States: methods and development. , 2002, Vital and health statistics. Series 11, Data from the National Health Survey.

[16]  James D. Johnson,et al.  The Influence of Media Violence on Youth , 2003, Psychological science in the public interest : a journal of the American Psychological Society.

[17]  Patricia Cohen,et al.  Television Viewing and Aggressive Behavior During Adolescence and Adulthood , 2002, Science.

[18]  Dimitri A Christakis,et al.  Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. , 2004, Pediatrics.

[19]  Jan Van den Bulck,et al.  Nodding off or switching off? The use of popular media as a sleep aid in secondary‐school children , 2006, Journal of paediatrics and child health.

[20]  T. Wade,et al.  The relation between common sleep problems and emotional and behavioral problems among 2‐ and 3‐year‐olds in the context of known risk factors for psychopathology , 2009, Journal of sleep research.

[21]  T N Robinson,et al.  Reducing children's television viewing to prevent obesity: a randomized controlled trial. , 1999, JAMA.

[22]  C. Anderson,et al.  Television and Video Game Exposure and the Development of Attention Problems , 2010, Pediatrics.

[23]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[24]  M. Carskadon,et al.  Effects of Acute Sleep Restriction on Behavior, Sustained Attention, and Response Inhibition in Children , 2001, Perceptual and motor skills.

[25]  P. Lavie,et al.  Starting times of school: effects on daytime functioning of fifth-grade children in Israel. , 1998, Sleep.

[26]  Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala,et al.  Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. , 2008, Sleep.

[27]  G. R. Stavig.  Multiple Comparison Tests for Path Analysis and Multiple Regression , 1981 .

[28]  D. Gentile.  The multiple dimensions of video game effects. , 2011 .

[29]  D. Borzekowski,et al.  Children's Television Exposure and Behavioral and Social Outcomes at 5.5 Years: Does Timing of Exposure Matter? , 2007, Pediatrics.

[30]  E. Dubow,et al.  Prospective associations between early childhood television exposure and academic, psychosocial, and physical well-being by middle childhood. , 2010, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[31]  L. E. Levine,et al.  Television Viewing and Attentional Abilities in Fourth and Fifth Grade Children , 2000 .

[32]  E. Vandewater,et al.  Linking obesity and activity level with children's television and video game use. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[33]  T. Schierl,et al.  Impact of Singular Excessive Computer Game and Television Exposure on Sleep Patterns and Memory Performance of School-aged Children , 2007, Pediatrics.

[34]  C. Wild,et al.  Short sleep duration in middle childhood: risk factors and consequences. , 2008, Sleep.

[35]  D. Gentile,et al.  Combined influence of physical activity and screen time recommendations on childhood overweight. , 2008, The Journal of pediatrics.

[36]  J. Bulck.  Television viewing, computer game playing, and Internet use and self-reported time to bed and time out of bed in secondary-school children. , 2004 .

[37]  J. Eisenmann,et al.  Physical Activity, Media Time, and Body Composition in Young Children. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[38]  Douglas A. Gentile,et al.  Media Exposure, Aggression and Prosocial Behavior During Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Study , 2006 .

[39]  C. Anderson,et al.  Human Aggression , 1989, Annual review of psychology.

[40]  Richie Poulton,et al.  Does Childhood Television Viewing Lead to Attention Problems in Adolescence? Results From a Prospective Longitudinal Study , 2007, Pediatrics.

[41]  L. Klinger,et al.  Academic Underachievement and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: The Negative Impact of Symptom Severity on School Performance. , 2002 .

[42]  H. Abikoff,et al.  Significance of Childhood Conduct Problems to Later Development of Conduct Disorder Among Children With ADHD: A Prospective Follow-Up Study , 2004, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[43]  Elizabeth Pugzles Lorch,et al.  The effects of TV program pacing on the behavior of preschool children , 1977 .

[44]  D. Gentile,et al.  The effects of violent video game habits on adolescent hostility, aggressive behaviors, and school performance. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.