Examining the Bidirectional Associations Between Sleep Duration, Screen Time, and Internalizing Symptoms in the ABCD...

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Behavioral Health

Background:

• Adolescence is marked by declining sleep duration and increasing screen time, coinciding with a rise in internalizing symptoms.
• Understanding the relationship between these behaviors and mental health is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the bidirectional associations between sleep duration and screen time with internalizing symptoms.
• To examine these relationships in a one-year longitudinal study of youth transitioning into adolescence.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 10,828 youth (mean age 9.9 years at baseline) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study participated.
• Sleep duration, screen time (weekday/weekend), and internalizing symptoms (child behavior checklist) were assessed at baseline and one-year follow-up.
• Analyses were gender-stratified, examining associations between dichotomized sleep duration, screen time, and internalizing symptom levels.

Main Results:

• In females, longer baseline sleep duration was associated with reduced risk of withdrawn/depressed and somatic symptoms one year later.
• Increased baseline weekend screen time in females predicted a higher risk of withdrawn/depressed symptoms at follow-up.
• No significant associations were found for males or for weekday screen time in females.

Conclusions:

• Longitudinal associations between sleep, weekend screen time, and internalizing symptoms were unidirectional and specific to females.
• Findings suggest that sleep duration and weekend screen time may influence the development of certain internalizing symptoms in adolescent girls.
• These results underscore the need for targeted interventions promoting healthy sleep and screen time habits in this demographic.