0333 Electronic Media Use is Associated with Poor Sleep In 3-6 Year-Old Children

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Recent surveys estimate that electronic media use among young children is increasing and that behavioral sleep problems are prevalent. In this study, we employed assessments of sleep and media use and tested the hypothesis that poor sleeping children would be more likely to engage with media than good sleeping children. Methods Participants were 44 children from two different cohorts: (1) Healthy, good sleepers (n=26, 13 males, 4.3±0.4 years) who reportedly obtained ≥10.5 hours per night and had no behavioral sleep problems and (2) Poor sleepers (n=18, 9 males, 5.5±0.7 years) who reportedly obtained chronic insufficient sleep ≤9 hours per night and/or had behavioral sleep problems for ≥6 months. Sleep duration and sleep onset latency (SOL) were quantified through 7 nights of actigraphy and verified with sleep diaries. Media use, defined as any electronic device involving screen time that engages children, was assessed across 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days through a parental media diary. Independent t-tests compared the duration of media use and actigraphy variables between groups. Results Poor sleeping children on average had longer SOL (28.6±17.9 vs. 17.3±8.66 minutes, t=-2.5, p<0.05) and shorter sleep duration (589.6±37.5 vs. 627.4±27.4 minutes, t=3.7, p<0.01) compared to good sleeping children. Additionally, average daily media use (125.1±88.5 vs. 66.5±48.3 minutes, t=-2.6, p<0.05), evening media use (22.0±21.3 vs. 4.2±10.4 minutes, t=-3.3, p<0.01), and weekend media use (154.4±105.9 vs. 79.8±55.6 minutes, t=-2.7, p<0.05) duration was higher in poor than good sleepers. Conclusion Our findings indicate that media use duration and timing likely play an important role in early childhood sleep health. Young children who use more evening media are more likely to take longer to fall asleep and have shorter sleep duration overall. Time displacement (time spent using media instead of sleeping), psychological stimulation, and the effects of screen light on circadian timing are potential mechanisms underlying these associations. Support NIH R01-MH086566 and R21-MH110765 to MKL