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

Abstract

Purpose: The likelihood of meeting sleep duration and screen time guidelines decreases as children develop toward adolescence. Simultaneously, the prevalence of internalizing symptoms increases. The purpose of this paper was to examine the bidirectional associations between sleep duration and screen time with internalizing symptoms in a one-year longitudinal study starting in late childhood.

Methods: Participants were 10,828 youth (47.8% female) enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. At baseline (mean age 9.9 years) and one-year follow-up (mean age 10.9 years), youth self-reported screen time for weekdays and weekend days. Responses were separately dichotomized as >2 versus ≤2 hours/day (meeting behavioral guidelines). Caregiver-reported youth sleep duration was dichotomized as <9 versus 9-11 hours/night (meeting behavioral guidelines). Caregivers reported internalizing symptoms via the child behavior checklist. The withdrawn/depressed, anxious/depressed, and somatic symptom child behavior checklist subscale t-scores were separately dichotomized as ≥65 (borderline clinical levels of symptoms and above) versus <65. Analyses were gender-stratified.

Results: In females, longer baseline sleep duration was protective against withdrawn/depressed symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 0.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4-0.8) and somatic complaints (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.6-0.97) one year later. In females, greater baseline weekend screen time was associated with increased risk of withdrawn/depressed symptoms (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.2) one year later. No other significant associations were observed.

Discussion: Longitudinal associations between sleep duration, weekend screen time, and internalizing symptoms were unidirectional (behavior preceding internalizing symptoms), among females only, and specific to withdrawn/depressed and somatic symptoms. These prospective study findings warrant attention and inform future research in this cohort.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Reciprocal; Sedentary behavior; Youth.