Sleep duration mediates link between screen time in late childhood and depression

Children who spend more screen time are at increased risk of having more depressive symptoms, potentially due to shorter sleep and worse white matter organization during early adolescence, according to a study.

Researchers used data from the Adolescent Behavior Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and identified 976 participants (47.1 percent female) with no past/current psychiatric disorders. They examined clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of participants at late childhood (age 9–10 years; mean age 9.9 years) and early adolescence (age 11–13 years; mean age 11.9 years).

Outcomes included screen time, sleep duration, and depressive symptoms. These were assessed using a self-report questionnaire, the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, and the Child Behavior Checklist, respectively. The orientation dispersion index of three white matter tracts that are known to be implicated with depression—cingulum bundle, forceps minor, and uncinate fasciculus—was characterized using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging and a tract profile approach.

Each additional hour of daily screen time at late childhood contributed to a 0.12-point (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.04–0.20) increase in Child Behavior Checklist depressive score at early adolescence.

Shorter sleep duration and worse cingulum bundle organization (greater orientation dispersion index) at early adolescence mediated 36.4 percent (95 percent CI, 18.2–63.6) of the association between more screen time and increased depressive symptoms.

These data highlight the importance of promoting healthy habits and balancing screen time with adequate sleep among children.