Youth Screen Time and Behavioral Health Problems: The Role of Sleep Duration and Disturbances
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the indirect effect of youth screen time (e.g., television, computers, smartphones, video games, and tablets) on behavioral health problems (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and peer problems) through sleep duration and disturbances. METHODS: The authors assessed a community sample of parents with a child in one of the following three developmental stages: young childhood (3-7 yrs; N = 209), middle childhood (8-12 yrs; N = 202), and adolescence (13-17 yrs; N = 210). Path analysis was used to test the hypothesized indirect effect model. RESULTS: Findings indicated that, regardless of the developmental stage of the youth, higher levels of youth screen time were associated with more sleep disturbances, which, in turn, were linked to higher levels of youth behavioral health problems. CONCLUSION: Children who have increased screen time are more likely to have poor sleep quality and problem behaviors.
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Higher levels of screen time are associated with reduced sleep duration and more sleep disturbances, which are in turn associated with internalizing, externalizing, and peer problems.
“Studies have also shown that higher levels of screen time were associated with reduced sleep duration and more sleep disturbances, which were in turn associated with internalizing, externalizing, and peer problems [62, 121].”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [121]
Previous literature links increased screen time to negative outcomes including poor mental health and worse behavioral problems.
“Previous literature links increased screen time to a number of negative outcomes, including poor mental health and worse behavioral problems [9]”
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- Authors
- Parent, J., Sanders, W., & Forehand, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Vermont (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
- Published
- 2016-05
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 277-284
- ISSN
- 0196-206X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4851593
- OpenAlex
- W2333784002
- Cited by
- 131
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 32.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (F31HD082858)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- behavioral health problems, sleep disorders, sleep duration, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, peer problems, children, adolescents, middle childhood, indirect effects, media use
- MeSH terms
- Problem Behavior, Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Child, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Sleep Wake Disorders, Television, Video Games, Computers, Handheld
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