Screen time patterns and cognitive screening outcomes (MoCA-Ina) in adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Adolescent Health
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Increasing screen time among adolescents raises concerns about potential cognitive impacts.
• Clinically relevant thresholds for screen time-related cognitive risk remain undefined.
• This study aimed to investigate the association between daily screen time and cognitive function in adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between daily screen time and cognitive screening performance in adolescents.
• To identify a potential screen-time cutoff associated with cognitive impairment.
• To inform public health guidelines regarding adolescent screen use.

Main Methods:

• An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted with junior high school students in Indonesia.
• Participants completed questionnaires on educational and recreational screen time.
• Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment - Indonesian version (MoCA-Ina), with a threshold of <24 indicating impairment.

Main Results:

• Recreational and overall daily screen time showed a significant inverse correlation with MoCA-Ina scores (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively).
• Educational screen time was not significantly associated with cognitive performance (p = 0.624).
• A screen time cutoff of >8.97 hours/day was identified, associated with a nearly 3-fold increased risk of cognitive impairment (RR 2.98).

Conclusions:

• High daily screen exposure in adolescents is associated with diminished cognitive screening performance.
• The identified cutoff of >8.97 hours/day is a preliminary, hypothesis-generating indicator for elevated cognitive impairment risk.
• Further validation in diverse populations is recommended to confirm these findings.