Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, NSW, Australia.
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2019 Nov 29;16(1):117. doi: 10.1186/s12966-019-0881-7.
Excessive engagement with digital screens is harmful to children's health. However, new evidence suggests that exposure at moderate levels may not be harmful and may even provide benefit. Therefore, our objective was to determine if there are curvilinear relationships between different types of screen time and a diverse set of outcomes, including health and education.
We address our objective using a repeated measures design. Children (N = 4013), initially aged 10-11 were assessed every 2 years between 2010 and 2014. Children's screen time behavior was measured using time-use diaries, and categorized into five types: social, passive, interactive, educational, or other. We used measures of children's physical health, health-related quality of life, socio-emotional outcomes, and school achievement. The analysis plan was pre-registered. Models were adjusted for gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, number of siblings, and housing factors.
There were linear associations between total screen time and all outcomes, such that more screen time was associated with worse outcomes. However, there was variability when examined by screen time type. Passive screen time (e.g., TV) was associated with worse outcomes, educational screen time (e.g., computer for homework) was associated with positive educational outcomes and had no negative relations with other outcomes. Interactive screen time (e.g., video games) had positive associations with educational outcomes but negative associations with other outcomes. In all instances, these significant associations were small or very small, with standardised effects < 0.07. We found little evidence of curvilinear relationships.
The small effects of screen time on children's outcomes appear to be moderated by the type of screen time. Policy makers, educators, and parents should consider the type of screen time when considering the benefits and harms of use.
过度使用电子屏幕对儿童健康有害。然而，新的证据表明，适度接触可能没有危害，甚至可能有益。因此，我们的目标是确定不同类型的屏幕时间与一系列不同的结果（包括健康和教育）之间是否存在曲线关系。
我们使用重复测量设计来实现我们的目标。2010 年至 2014 年间，对最初年龄在 10-11 岁的 4013 名儿童进行了每两年一次的评估。儿童的屏幕时间行为使用时间使用日记进行测量，并分为五类：社交、被动、互动、教育或其他。我们使用儿童身体健康、健康相关生活质量、社会情感结果和学校成绩的测量值。分析计划是预先注册的。模型调整了性别、社会经济地位、种族、兄弟姐妹数量和住房因素。
总屏幕时间与所有结果之间存在线性关联，即屏幕时间越多，结果越差。然而，当按屏幕时间类型检查时，存在差异。被动屏幕时间（例如电视）与较差的结果相关，教育屏幕时间（例如计算机作业）与积极的教育结果相关，与其他结果没有负面关系。互动屏幕时间（例如视频游戏）与教育结果呈正相关，但与其他结果呈负相关。在所有情况下，这些显著关联的效应值较小或非常小，标准化效应<0.07。我们几乎没有发现曲线关系的证据。
屏幕时间对儿童结果的小影响似乎受到屏幕时间类型的调节。政策制定者、教育工作者和家长在考虑使用的益处和危害时，应考虑屏幕时间的类型。
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