Abstract
Study Objectives
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown, there was a worldwide increase in electronic devices’ daily usage. Prolonged exposure to backlit screens before ...sleep influences the circadian system leading to negative consequences on sleep health. We investigated the relationship between changes in evening screen exposure and the time course of sleep disturbances during the home confinement period due to COVID-19.
Methods
2,123 Italians (mean age ± standard deviation, 33.1 ± 11.6) were tested longitudinally during the third and the seventh week of lockdown. The web-based survey evaluated sleep quality and insomnia symptoms through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index. The second assessment survey inquired about intervening changes in backlit screen exposure in the two hours before falling asleep.
Results
Participants who increased electronic device usage showed decreased sleep quality, exacerbated insomnia symptoms, reduced sleep duration, prolonged sleep onset latency, and delayed bedtime and rising time. In this subgroup, the prevalence of poor sleepers and individuals reporting moderate/severe insomnia symptoms increased. Conversely, respondents reporting decreased screen exposure exhibited improved sleep quality and insomnia symptoms. In this subgroup, the prevalence of poor sleepers and moderate/severe insomniacs decreased. Respondents preserving screen time habits did not show variations of the sleep parameters.
Conclusions
Our investigation demonstrated a strong relationship between modifications of evening electronic device usage and time course of sleep disturbances during the lockdown period. Monitoring the potential impact of excessive evening exposure to backlit screens on sleep health is recommendable during the current period of restraining measures due to COVID-19.
Media use in children has exploded in the past several decades, most recently fuelled by portable electronic devices. This study aims to explore differences in functional brain connectivity in ...children during a story-listening functional MRI (fMRI) task using data collected before (1998) and after (2013) the widespread adoption of media.
Cross-sectional data were collected from English-speaking 5- to 7-year-old children at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA, of a functional MRI narrative comprehension task completed in 1998 (n = 22) or 2013 (n = 25). Imaging data were processed using a graph theory approach, focusing on executive functions, language and visual processing networks supporting reading.
Group differences suggest more efficient processing in the fronto-parietal network in the pre-media group while listening to stories. A modulation of the visual and fronto-parietal networks for the post-media exposure group was found.
Further studies are needed to assess effects over time in the more exposed group to discern a causal effect of portable devices on cognitive networks.
•The mean amount of screen time in infants aged 2–11 months was 6−17 min a day.•Technoference in mother-infant interactions happened, on average, 5–6 times a day.•Maternal educational level was ...negatively related to infant screen time.
This study aimed to examine longitudinal developmental patterns in the daily amounts of screen time and technoference in infants aged 2, 4, 7, and 11 months and to examine associations with maternal sociodemographic factors across all age groups.
The results showed that the amount of screen time varied between 6 and 17 min a day, while interruptions in mother-infant interactions due to maternal use of digital technology occurred between 5 and 6 times a day. There was a significant increase in infant screen time from 2 to 4 months, from 4–7 months, and from 7–11 months, and in technoference from 2 to 4 months and from 4–7 months. Maternal age and household income were not associated with infant screen time, but maternal educational level was negatively associated with infant screen time throughout the first year. No associations were found between technoference and maternal age, maternal educational level, or household income.
Future research focusing on infant screen time and technoference should aim at including samples that reflect the general population, include measures of screen time and technoference that do not rely on parental report, and include measures of the effects of early infant screen time and technoference on later development.
This study aimed to explore the association between screen exposure in early life and preschool myopia. During the baseline survey of the Longhua Child Cohort Study (LCCS), data of 29,595 ...preschoolers were collected via a caregiver-reported questionnaire regarding children's socio-demographic characteristics, visual status, screen exposure and relevant parental information. Data of 26,433 preschoolers with normal eyesight or myopia were included in the analysis and cox regression modelling was employed to assess the associations. Results suggested the hypothesis that screen exposure in early life could be significantly and positively associated with preschool myopia, and in agreement with this hypothesis was the association being strengthened with the increasing daily exposure duration and total years of exposure; in the stratification analysis based on the presence of parental myopia, these associations still existed, and the strength of associations was stronger in preschoolers with myopic parents than those without. Moreover, a statistically significant association was only observed between initial screen exposure that occurred during 0-1-years old and myopia for preschoolers without myopic parents, while the significant associations were observed between initial screen exposure that occurred during 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, and after 3 years old and myopia for preschoolers who had myopic parents, with the strongest association found in the group of children initially exposed to electronic screens during 0-1 year old. Thus our findings indicated the hypothesis that screen exposure in early life might be associated with the occurrence of preschool myopia, and that the postnatal first year might be the sensitive period for the association. However, it is premature to conclude that early screen time leads to myopia with current data. Further longitudinal studies performed with cycloplegia are necessary to verify the hypothesis and shed light on the more urgent question whether early screen exposure contributes to the later myopia epidemic of school-aged children.
•The majority of children received more screen time during the pandemic; screen time increases were more pronounced in lower SES children.•Lower SES children were also more likely to experience a ...reduction in reading time than higher SES children.•Overall, children showed no detectable change in vocabulary growth during the pandemic when compared to their pre-pandemic age- and SES-matched peers.•Notably, however, a negative impact on vocabulary growth was observed in lower SES children in the vocabulary spurt age (19 to 29 months).
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about children’s development. Here, we examined the impact of the pandemic on Canadian infants’ and toddlers’ (N = 539) language development. Specifically, we assessed changes in 11- to 34-month-olds’ activities that are known to affect vocabulary development (i.e., screen and reading times). We also compared these children’s vocabulary sizes with those of 1365 children collected before the pandemic using standardized vocabulary assessments. Our results show that screen and reading times were most negatively affected in lower-income children. For vocabulary growth, no measurable change was detected in middle- and high-income children, but lower-income 19- to 29-month-olds fared worse during the pandemic than during pre-pandemic times. Moving forward, these data indicate that educators and policymakers should pay particular attention to children from families with lower socioeconomic status during times of crisis and stress.
The aim of this study, which combines a qualitative and a quantitative approach, was to investigate by which standards Slovenian parents of preschool children define a high-quality children’s ...programme that can be watched on different screens. In addition, we were interested in parents’ views on the risks and benefits that programmes designed for children bring to the child’s early development and learning. The sample included 239 parents of children aged 1 to 6 years. The results show that, on average, children were exposed to screens at the age of two, but individual differences in both the age of first exposure and the frequency of exposure to screen content were substantial. Parents mostly used restrictive mediation to regulate their children’s screen exposure. Overall, parents attached great importance to the different aspects of quality children’s programme and rated aesthetic quality, entertainment and involvement as three very important elements. The standards by which they judged the quality of children’s programme were related to their education and the age of the child. They emphasised the positive effects of children’s programmes on the child’s emotional and language development, imagination and creativity, as well as on the development of social skills and play. On the other hand, the parents were most concerned about violent content, the modelling of inappropriate behaviour and the choice of words in children’s programmes.
Lockdown is an important measure that has been globally adopted to reduce the spread of the contagious disease caused by SARS CoV-2. The imposed schedule and confinement led to extensive use of ...digital media and rise in sedentary activity drastically. The escalated duration of screen exposure causes disruption in sleep behavior. An online survey was conducted to comprehend the effect of lockdown on sleep behavior and screen exposure time on school children. Screen exposure time involved with various electronic gadgets was also analyzed. It was observed that the social jet lag and sleep debt were significantly less during lockdown than before it. Inertia during lockdown significantly increased. The difference between screen exposure time on weekdays before lockdown and weekends during lockdown was identified to be the highest. Three clusters based on sleep behavior and duration of screen time were identified of which Cluster 2 revealed simultaneous existence of high sleep duration and screen time. These baseline data on sleep parameters and duration of exposure to the screen will help us in devising approaches to mitigate the evident disruption this unprecedented phase has brought about.
Background As large portions of the youth population (15–24 year olds) are gaining access to computer technology it is crucial to determine the role exposure to screens has on the quality of sleep ...and overall mental well-being of youth. Especially if this effect compounds with the generalised stressors present in the lifestyle of medical undergraduates. Methods The present study was conducted by administering a semi-structured questionnaire to undergraduates of a tertiary care medical college. The questionnaire included their socio-demographic profile, questions on-screen exposure, sleep quality and mental well-being using the Questionnaire for Screen Time of Adolescents (QueST)1 , Sleep Quality Scale (SQS)2 and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS)3. The average screen time was calculated and the responses for SQS and WEMWBS were scored. Chi-square was used to test statistical significance and to obtain an association between screen exposure time, sleep quality and mental well-being. Results A total of 251 participants were included in the study, ranging from the ages of 18 to 26 years. A gradual increase in the screen exposure time was observed from 1st year to Interns. The mean screen exposure time was found to be 535.26 minutes (8h 54min). Females showed lower mental well-being as compared to males in the same year. Higher incidence of sleep problems was observed in Final year students. A significant association between Sleep Quality Scale scores and screen exposure time (p-value = 0.03) and a unidirectional relation (p-value = 0.04) between Sleep Quality Scale scores and Non-recreational Screen Exposure Time.The participants with lower screen exposure time showed lesser acute sleep problems (p-value= 0.03; p-value=0.0006, respectively). A higher screen exposure time for recreational purposes showed a unidirectional relation (p-value= 0.04) with occurrence of acute sleep problems, in individuals who already had a higher screen exposure time than the mean of the group. Significant association was found between participants having lower WEMWBS scores and lower Non-recreational Screen Exposure time (p-value= 0.04). A unidirectional association (p-value= 0.02) was observed between lower WEMWBS scores and lower Recreational Screen Exposure Time. In those with higher WEMWBS scores significant findings were seen in relation to both recreational and non-recreational screen exposure times (p-value= 0.04 and p-value= 0.04, respectively). Conclusions High screen exposure time was observed in the sample population with a steady increase from 1st year to Interns. Significant disparities were observed in the mental well-being of female and male participants of the study. The Final year students reported a marked increase in acute sleep problems. The study participants with higher screen exposure were observed to have better mental well-being but were also seen to have more acute sleep problems. Despite the better mental well-being observed, it was noted that acute sleep problems in turn affect the mental well-being of an individual and thus reduction of screen time is recommended.
The neurocognitive consequences of exposure to screens in school-aged children have been the subject of multiple studies. However, the relationship between screen exposure and neurocognitive ...development, especially attentional functions, remains unclear in preschool children. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the immediate and long-term impact of screen exposure on attentional functions in preschoolers.
Three electronic databases (PubMed, COCHRANE, and SCOPUS) were searched for studies published between January 1, 2000, and November 30, 2020. Two reviewers independently selected studies. Inclusion criteria were observational studies, inclusion of children aged less than seven years with no neurodevelopmental disorders, evaluation of screen time, and evaluation of attentional functions. Data extracted including participants’ ages, number of participants, screen exposure time, attention assessment tool, and confounding factors. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
Five cross-sectional studies were included: all reported significant, positive associations between high levels of screen exposure and attention difficulties. Ten longitudinal studies were included: six found a significant impact of earlier screen exposure on subsequent attentional function and four found no relationship. Eight of the studies included evaluated the direction of the relationship between screen exposure and attentional difficulties: seven suggested the relationship is bidirectional.
These findings support current guidelines to limit screen time in preschoolers to prevent the development of attention difficulties.
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