0104 Greater sleep regularity among adolescents predicts less daytime video game playing

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Daytime video game playing is a sedentary behavior that has been associated with worse adolescent health outcomes, including obesity, mood disorders, and poor sleep. However, few studies have explored the influence of sleep on time spent engaged in screen-based activities. This is the first study to examine whether sleep regularity, a measure that encapsulates within-person sleep timing, duration, and disruption across successive days of actigraphy, is associated with daytime video gaming among adolescents. Methods We analyzed sleep sub-study data from the age 15 wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=314 adolescents, 15.4±0.5 years old). Adolescents wore wrist actigraphy devices and concurrently completed daily surveys reporting how many hours they played video games. The sleep regularity index (SRI) was calculated as the percentage probability of an individual being in the same sleep/wake state at any two times 24 hours apart across seven consecutive days of valid actigraphy (range 0-100). Multilevel Poisson models with random intercepts for daily video gaming adjusted for school days, sex, ethnoracial group, bedtime routines, parent education, family poverty, and family structure. The stability of the association between SRI and video gaming was additionally tested using the first two to six consecutive days of actigraphy. Results Every 10 units increase in SRI was associated with 9% fewer daily hours of video gaming on average (OR=0.91, CI=0.84, 0.998, p=0.046). Findings were consistent when SRI was calculated using the first four or more consecutive days of actigraphy (8-10%, p≤0.043), and the association was nonsignificant when using the first two or three days. Conclusion Adolescents who had greater sleep regularity tended to spend less time playing video games. Future research should consider interventions that target the consistency of sleep patterns across the week. Improving the regularity of sleep timing and duration may reduce video game playing and confer positive downstream effects on adolescent health. Support (if any) R01HD073352, R01HD36916, R01HD39135, R01HD40421, T32DA017629