Effortful Control Moderates the Relation Between Electronic-Media Use and Objective Sleep Indicators in Childhood

Activities and social contact as antecedents to sleep onset time in U.S. adolescents

This study evaluated adolescents' evening patterns in activities, social contact, and location to better understand antecedents to adolescents' sleep onset time (SOT). The SOT is important for sleep duration and related health outcomes. Using a nationally representative sample of 15- to 18-year-old adolescents from the American Time Use Survey (N = 10,341; 47% female; 57% white), structural equation modeling demonstrated that late SOTs mediated links between evening activities, social contact, locations, and shorter sleep durations. Passive leisure, time in public locations, and time with friends late in the evenings were associated with later SOTs, whereas homework and active leisure did not. Parents and practitioners can use this information to carefully evaluate evening activities, social contact, and location to support healthy SOTs for adolescents across time.

Association between Electronic Media Use and Internalizing Problems: The Mediating Effect of Parent-Child Conflict and Moderating Effect of Children's Age

In today's digital world, children are exposed extensively to electronic media, making it an integral part of their daily lives. However, excessive use of electronic media during childhood has been associated with various internalizing problems. Moreover, parent-child conflict and children's age may be closely associated with children's problem behaviors. The current study employed a cross-sectional design and conducted a questionnaire survey of 711 parents to examine the association between children's electronic media use and their internalizing problems. Furthermore, this study probed the mediating role of parent-child conflict within this association and the moderating effect of children's age. The results of structural equation modeling showed a positive correlation between children's use of electronic media and their internalizing difficulties. Parent-child conflict served as a mediating factor in this association. Results also showed that the association between parent-child conflict and internalizing problems becomes more pronounced as children grow older. These findings imply that parents should encourage their children to develop healthy habits in using electronic media while fostering positive relationships. Parents should also be mindful of the psychological changes as children age and provide guidance to help them become proficient digital citizens.

Is the Association Between Early Childhood Screen Media Use and Effortful Control Bidirectional? A Prospective Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Individual differences in effortful control, a component of temperament, reflecting the ability to use attention and other cognitive processes to self-regulate emotion and behavior, contribute to child academic adjustment, social competence, and wellbeing. Research has linked excessive screen time in early childhood to reduced self-regulation ability. Furthermore, research suggests that parents are more likely to use screens with children who have more challenging temperaments, such as low levels of effortful control. Since screen time by children between the ages of 0 and 18 has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains timely to investigate the developmental pattern of association between child screen media use and effortful control. We hypothesize that higher levels of screen media intake at age 3.5 will be associated with lower effortful control at age 4.5 and that lower effortful control at 3.5 will contribute to more screen media intake at age 4.5. This study draws on participants followed longitudinally over the span of 2-years for an investigation of Canadian preschoolers' screen media use during the pandemic (N = 316, Wave 1). A follow-up with this sample was completed in 2021 (N = 265, Wave 2). Analyses using a cross-lagged panel model revealed stability in child screen time and effortful control between the ages of 3.5 and 4.5. Child screen time at age 3.5 significantly contributed to decreased effortful control scores at the age of 4.5, whereas effortful control at age 3.5 did not contribute to screen time at age 4.5. Our results partially confirmed our hypothesis and indicated that higher levels of screen time intake were detrimental to the development of effortful control. These results suggest that screen media use, an exceedingly frequent activity, may play an enduring role in development by shaping young children's temperaments.

Predictors of television at bedtime and associations with toddler sleep and behavior in a medicaid-eligible, racial/ethnic minority sample

This study examined predictors of TV use at bedtime and associations with toddlers' sleep and behavior using data from the Smart Beginnings study with 403 Medicaid-eligible, racial/ethnic minority participants from two cities in the United States. We first estimated predictors of TV use at bedtime at 18 months. We then examined whether TV at bedtime was associated with concurrent parent-report of nighttime sleep duration and quality, and later problem behavior at 24 months. Results showed that around half of the sample reported using TV at bedtime with their toddlers, and particularly first-time mothers and those receiving public assistance. We also found that use of TV at bedtime was related to concurrent sleep issues and increases in later problem behavior. Mediational path analyses revealed that TV at bedtime affected behavior via sleep quality. Despite the heterogeneity within this Medicaid-eligible sample, the results underscore the universally harmful effects of TV use at bedtime and lend support for structuring nighttime routines for toddlers to promote better sleep and behavioral outcomes.

Media use, attention, mental health and academic performance among 8 to 12 year old children

The rise in digital media consumption, especially among children, raises the societal question of its impact on cognition, mental health and academic achievement. Here, we investigate three different ways of measuring technology use--total hours of media consumed, hours of video game play and number of media used concurrently--in 118 eight-to-twelve year-old children. At stake is the question of whether different technology uses have different effects, which could explain some of the past mixed findings. We collected data about children's media uses as well as (i) attentional and behavioral control abilities, (ii) psychological distress, psychosocial functioning, and sleep, and (iii) academic achievement and motivation. While attentional control abilities were assessed using both cognitive tests and questionnaires, mental health and sleep were all questionnaire-based. Finally, academic performance was based on self-reported grades, with motivational variables being measured through the grit and the growth-mindset questionnaires. We present partial correlation analyses and construct a psychological network to assess the structural associations between different forms of media consumption and the three categories of measures. We observe that children consume large amounts of media and media multitask substantially. Partial correlation analyses show that media multitasking specifically was mostly correlated with negative mental health, while playing video games was associated with faster responding and better mental health. No significant partial correlations were observed for total hours on media. Psychological network analysis complement these first results by indicating that all three ways of consuming technology are only indirectly related to self-reported grades. Thus, technology uses appear to only indirectly relate to academic performance, while more directly affecting mental health. This work emphasizes the need to differentiate among technology uses if one is to understand how every day digital consumption impacts human behavior.

Associations Between Social Media, Bedtime Technology Use Rules, and Daytime Sleepiness Among Adolescents: Cross-sectional Findings From a Nationally Representative Sample

BACKGROUND

Social media use is associated with poor sleep among adolescents, including daytime sleepiness, which affects adolescents' mental health. Few studies have examined the associations among specific aspects of social media, such as frequency of checking and posting, perceived importance of social media for social belonging, and daytime sleepiness. Identifying whether certain adolescents are more at risk or protected from the effects of social media on sleepiness may inform future interventions for social media, sleep, and mental health.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine the association between social media use frequency and importance, daytime sleepiness, and whether the perceived importance of social media for social interactions and parental rules around bedtime technology moderated these relationships.

METHODS

This cross-sectional survey study was conducted with a sample of 4153 adolescents from across the United States. Qualtrics was used to collect data via panel recruitment from a national sample representing the US demographics of teens aged 12 to 17 years. Participants completed measures of daytime sleepiness, frequency of social media checking and posting, and the importance of social media for social interactions. Parents reported whether they had a household rule around bedtime media and screen use. Hierarchical regressions and moderation analyses were conducted, covarying for age, gender, and age at first smartphone use.

RESULTS

Participants had a mean age of 14.64 (SD 1.66) years in grades 6 to 12, 46.45% (1929/4153) identified as female, and 67.93% (2821/4153) identified as White. The results indicated that adolescents who posted (B=0.70, SE 0.04; P<.001) or checked (B=0.76, SE 0.04; P<.001) social media more frequently or who perceived social media to be more important for social belonging (B=0.36, SE 0.02; P<.001) had higher levels of daytime sleepiness. Moderation analyses indicated that the relationship between social media use frequency and daytime sleepiness was exacerbated by higher levels of perceived social media importance (B=0.04, SE 0.01; P<.001). Adolescents without household rules around bedtime technology use were more likely to be affected by social media checking (B=-0.34, SE 0.09; P<.001) and importance (B=-0.16, SE 0.04; P<.001) on daytime sleepiness.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that social media use frequency and perceived importance of social interactions are associated with daytime sleepiness among adolescents. It is important to consider youth's perceptions of social media when assessing the potential effects of social media use frequency on youth well-being. Furthermore, youth who did not have parental rules around bedtime technology use were most likely to be affected by social media use and perceived importance. The findings may extend to other mental health outcomes and may guide future prevention and intervention programs designed to improve social media use, sleep, and mental health.

Tantrums, toddlers and technology: Temperament, media emotion regulation, and problematic media use in early childhood

Parents regularly use media to help regulate their child's difficult emotions, particularly for those with a more difficult temperament. However, no research has examined how this may be related to the development of problematic (or addictive-like) media use in early childhood. The purpose of the study was to examine associations between temperament, parental media emotion regulation, and problematic media use in young children, using both questionnaires and observational data. Participants included 269 toddlers (2-3 years old) and their parents, who completed several observational tasks and questionnaires. Analyses revealed that higher levels of media emotion regulation was associated with more problematic media use and more extreme emotions when media was removed in toddlers. Additionally, temperament (specifically negative affect and surgency) was related to problematic media and extreme emotions and was mediated by media emotion regulation. Parents should avoid using media as a primary way of regulating their children's emotions as this may be related to the development of problematic media strategies during infancy.

School Readiness and Achievement in Early Elementary School: Moderation by Students' Temperament

The goals of this study were to examine the longitudinal relations between school readiness and reading and math achievement and to test if these relations were moderated by temperament. The sample included socio-economically and ethnically diverse twins (N=551). Parents reported on school readiness when children were five years old. Teachers reported on temperament (effortful control, anger, and shyness) three years later. Standardized measures of reading and math were obtained when children were eight years old. Effortful control and shyness moderated the effect of school readiness on reading. Prediction of reading from school readiness was strongest when students were high in effortful control and low in shyness. Effortful control and shyness predicted math beyond school readiness. There were no relations involving anger. Findings demonstrate that temperament can potentiate the relations between school readiness and reading and highlight the importance of promoting school readiness and effortful control, while decreasing shyness.

Sleep and self-control: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Controlling impulses and overcoming temptations (i.e., self-control) are key aspects of living a productive life. There is a growing yet disperse literature indicating that sleep is an important predictor of self-control. The goal of this meta-analysis is to empirically integrate the findings from multiple literatures, and investigate whether sleep quality, and sleep duration predict self-control. To provide a thorough understanding of the proposed relationships, this meta-analysis also investigated potential differences between the level of analysis (between-individual vs. within-individual), research design (experiment vs. correlation; and cross-sectional vs. time-lagged), and types of measure (subjective vs. objective for sleep and self-control). A systematic review was conducted through ABI/Inform (including PsycInfo), ERIC, ProQuest Dissertation & Theses, PubMed, and Psychology Database using keywords related to self-control and sleep. Sixty-one independent studies met the inclusion criteria. The results, in general, suggest that sleep quality (between-individual 0.26, CI 0.21; 0.31; and within-individual 0.35, CI 0.24; 0.45), and sleep duration (between-individual 0.14, CI 0.07; 0.21; and within-individual 0.20, CI 0.09; 0.31) are all related to self-control. Given the impact of self-control on how individuals live productive lives, a future research agenda should include a deeper investigation in the causal process (potentially via prefrontal cortex activity) linking sleep and self-control, and an examination of the moderators (individual and contextual variables) that could impact the relationship between sleep and self-control.

Impact of Technology Use on Behavior and Sleep Scores in Preschool Children in Saudi Arabia

Background: Pre-school children use digital devices both at home and in kindergarten for communication. However, such technologies can also be used for creativity learning and entertainment. Technology usage might exert a negative impact on the psychosocial development of pre-school children, thus necessitating parental monitoring. Previous studies have recommended early intervention for pre-school children by decreasing the duration of digital devices, spending more time with the family, and participation in motor activities to avoid the ill effects of technology. Aim: To investigate the impact of digital device use on the behavioral and sleep scores of preschool children as perceived by parents in Saudi Arabia (SA). Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted across two regions in SA. It was ethically approved by the ethical review board of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. The participants were randomly selected from well-baby hospital records, surveyed and interviewed to obtain data for the following measures: demographic data, technology usage, sleep disturbance scale, and behavior scale. Children with special needs or comorbidities were excluded from the study. Descriptive and multivariate regression analysis were done. Results: We recruited 288 children. Most did not attend schools (63.2%), 22.6% were in kindergarten, and 14.2% were in nursery schools. Smart phones were the most commonly used device by the children (42.4%). Most used the technology for 2-3 h/days (34%). Cartoons were the most commonly sought content (42%). The behavior scores for children aged 18-36 months showed a mean value of 5.1, 3.7, and 4.6 for surgency, negative affect, and effortful control, respectively. Children aged 3-5 years showed a mean value of 4.3, 4, and 4.7 for surgency, negative affect, and effortful control, respectively. Sleep disturbance scores for all children showed a mean value of 12.4, 3.5, 3.8, 8, 7.3, and 2.7 on disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, sleep-breathing disorders, disorders of arousal, sleep-wake transition disorders, disorders of excessive somnolence, and sleep hyperhidrosis, respectively. The mean total sleep score was 37. Multivariate regression analysis showed significant positive relationship between surgency and three factors namely family income of 10,000-15,000 SR (t = 1.924, p = 0.045), fathers' bachelor's degrees (t = 2.416, p = 0.16), and owning a video game device (t = 2.826, p = 0.005<0.05). Negative affect was significantly associated with fathers' diploma level of education (t = 2.042, p = 0.042). Negative significant relationship between effortful control and fathers' secondary level of education (t = -2.053, p = 0.041). There was a significant negative relationship between effortful control and owning a TV and video game device (t = -2.35, -2.855, p = 0.043, 0.005<0.05, respectively). A significant positive relationship was found between child's sleeping score (worse sleep) and watching technology between 3 and 5 h (t = 2.01, p = 0.045), and mothers' unemployment status (t = 2.468, p = 0.014). Conclusion: In conclusion, technology use is associated with a negative impact on children sleep and behavior. Owning a digital device, using tablets, screen viewing for more than 3-5 h, and watching movies were significantly associated with negative child's behavior and sleep.

Social media use predicts later sleep timing and greater sleep variability: An ecological momentary assessment study of youth at high and low familial risk for depression

INTRODUCTION

Social media (SM) use has been increasingly recognized as a potential contributor to poor sleep. Few studies have examined SM use and sleep using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), compared different types of media use (SM, television, gaming), or examined whether youth at high and low familial risk for depression are differentially affected by SM use.

METHODS

The current study included 76 youth (46% female; Mean age = 11.28 years) who were recruited based on parental history of recurrent depression (N = 35 high risk; N = 41 low risk) in the United States. Youth completed a 9-day EMA protocol, which included current activity at time of prompt and daily sleep onset and offset times. Regression and multilevel models were conducted to examine the effects of media use on sleep.

RESULTS

Results indicated that youth who used more SM (mean and number of days) went to sleep later, but did not have shorter sleep duration. Youth with more SM use also had higher levels of variability of both sleep timing and sleep duration across the 9-day period. There were no effects of gaming or TV on sleep, and youth at high risk for depression did not have differences in SM use or its effects on sleep compared to low-risk youth.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate a unique impact of SM use on sleep timing and variability for youth (regardless of risk status), which may suggest a unique and modifiable pathway through which SM use contributes to poor health.