Cited by 19Child Development and Digital TechnologyChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentImpact of Technology on Adolescents

Unpacking Associations between Mood Symptoms and Screen Time in Preadolescents: a Network Analysis

Open access
Lin, Sin-Ying, Eaton, Nicholas R., Schleider, Jessica L.·2020·Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Mounting evidence highlights the link between screen time and adolescent mood problems. However, there are several shortcomings to the extant literature: (1) this link is underexplored in preadolescents, (2) most existing studies look at mood problems using categorical diagnoses rather than from a symptom-level perspective, despite the heterogeneity within mood disorders, (3) few studies have simultaneously examined the links of mood symptoms with different types of screen time, and (4) family/child-level factors that have shown links to youth psychopathology are not typically considered. This study, for the first time, examined the relationships of mood symptoms with different types of screen time, while accounting for theoretically important factors-parental monitoring and the behavioral inhibition/activation systems (BIS/BAS)-in preadolescents aged 9 to 10 from 9986 families participating in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. Using mixed graphical models, we found that screen time involving age-inappropriate content was stably and significantly associated with various elevated mood symptoms, independent from other types of screen time, BIS/BAS, and parental monitoring. Additionally, age-inappropriate screen time was associated with increased overall symptom connectivity. Further, preadolescents engaged in high levels of age-inappropriate screen time reported different symptom profiles (i.e., differences in symptom centralities) from common pediatric mood problems. Our findings underline the multifaceted role (i.e., direct associations with symptoms, a moderator for symptom relationships, associations with distinct symptom profiles) of age-inappropriate screen time in preadolescent mood problems. These findings serve as foundations for future research that may facilitate early detection of preadolescents at risk of mood problems.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s10802-020-00703-x

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91 of 91 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • In a recent systematic review and meta-analysis, only three North American studies included a national cohort with a sample size of 10,000 or more.

    “In a recent systematic review and meta-analysis on screen time and internalizing and externalizing behaviors among children and adolescents aged 12 years or younger [84], only three North American studies included a national cohort with a sample size of 10,000 or more [62, 85, 86].”

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Authors
Lin, S.-Y., Eaton, N. R., & Schleider, J. L.
Affiliations
Stony Brook University (US)
Corresponding author
Lin, Sin-Ying
Venue
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Published
2020-09-14
Volume
48
Issue
12
Pages
1635-1647
ISSN
  • 0091-0627 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-2835
OpenAlex
W3086418326
Cited by
19
References
91
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1
FWCI
2.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
Keywords
screen time, mood symptoms, preadolescents, parental supervision, symptom profiles, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
MeSH terms
Screen Time, Affect, Child, Depression, Family, Female, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Mood Disorders

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