Summary: Excessive screen time among preschool-aged children is linked to reduced sleep quality, which contributes to behavioral challenges such as hyperactivity, attention difficulties, and emotional instability. A study involving 571 children found that screen use disrupts sleep patterns, likely due to delayed bedtimes, overstimulation, and blue-light exposure. The findings emphasize the interplay between screen time and sleep disturbances, suggesting that improving sleep quality could mitigate behavioral problems. Researchers recommend limiting screen use and exploring sleep interventions to address these issues.
Key Takeaways:
- Screen Time and Sleep Disruption: Preschoolers with excessive screen use experience poorer sleep quality, delayed bedtimes, and overstimulation, leading to behavioral challenges.
- Impact on Behavior: Reduced sleep quality is linked to hyperactive attention problems, emotional symptoms, and peer difficulties, creating a cycle of worsening issues.
- Recommendations for Intervention: Controlling screen time and implementing sleep interventions can help mitigate behavioral problems and improve overall well-being in young children.
Excessive screen use by preschool-age children can lead to reduced sleep quality, exacerbating problems such as poor attention, hyperactivity, and unstable mood, a new study suggests.
Peer-reviewed findings published in Early Child Development and Care show how screen time is “significantly” correlated with increased hyperactive attention problems and emotional symptoms, and with decreased sleep quality.
Additionally, the research—carried out by experts in China and Canada—demonstrates how sleep quality is also extensively correlated with decreased hyperactive attention problems, emotional symptoms, and peer problems.
The findings suggest that sleep quality partially mediates the associations between screen time and hyperactive attention problems, and between screen time and emotional symptoms.
The Impact of Screen Time on Sleep Patterns
“Our results indicate that excessive screen time can leave the brains of preschool children in an excited state, leading to poor sleep quality and duration,” says corresponding author professor Yan Li, an expert in preschool education from Shanghai Normal University, in a release.
Lead author Shujin Zhou, a doctor of psychology from Shanghai Normal University, adds in a release, “This poor sleep may be due to postponed bedtimes caused by screen viewing and the disruption of sleep patterns due to overstimulation and blue-light exposure. Screen use might also displace time that could have been spent sleeping and increase levels of physiological and psychological arousal, leading to difficulties in falling asleep,”
In generating the results, Zhou and colleagues surveyed the mothers of 571 preschool children, aged between three and 6 years old, in seven public kindergartens in Shanghai, China.
The mothers reported the amount of time their child spent watching electronic screens (TV, smartphones, computers, or other devices) each day during the previous week. They then answered questions to assess any behavioral problems their child might have, including hyperactive attention difficulties, emotional symptoms such as frequent complaints of feeling unwell, and peer problems such as being lonely or preferring to play alone. Finally, the mothers responded to questions assessing their child’s sleep quality and duration.
A Cyclic Reinforcement of Behavioral Problems
“Our results suggest the presence of a positive feedback loop, wherein increased screen time and sleep disturbances exacerbate each other through cyclic reinforcement, heightening the risk of hyperactive attention problems, anxiety, and depression,” adds co-author Bowen Xiao, PhD, an expert in children’s socio-emotional functioning and developmental psychopathology, at the Department of Psychology, Carleton University in Canada, in a release.
The author team, which also includes professionals from Shenzhen Xili Kindergarten, suggests their findings could help toward future treatments and interventions.
“Understanding the role of screen use in the lived experiences of preschool-age children and its link to behavioral problems during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial,” says Zhou in a release.
Future Directions for Research and Interventions
“The implications of our study are two-fold: first, controlling screen use in preschool-age children can help alleviate behavioral problems and poor sleep quality, and second, sleep interventions and treatments can be effective in mitigating the adverse effects of screen time on behavioral issues.”
However, the study does have several limitations. These include the fact that all data from the mothers “cannot exclude the biases from subjective perspective.”
The researchers suggest, to mitigate this, future studies should monitor sleep quality via scientific instruments.
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