Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2021 Dec 1;42(9):734-741. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000959.
Perceptions of less neighborhood safety and higher levels of screen time are independently linked to adolescent anxiety and depression. Furthermore, residing in a neighborhood perceived as less safe is associated with engaging in higher levels of screen time. Screen time may act as a potential mechanism by which the effects of neighborhood safety on internalizing symptoms differ. Yet, research has not investigated whether the relationship between neighborhood safety and psychosocial adjustment varies at high and low levels of screen time. Therefore, this study examined the interaction between perceived neighborhood safety and screen time on adolescent internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxiety and depressive symptoms).
A total of 184 adolescents (53% female; mean age = 17.09, SD = 1.07) were recruited from an ongoing longitudinal study of adolescent drivers. Participants reported their perceptions of neighborhood safety, screen use, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and demographic characteristics. The independent and interactive contributions of neighborhood safety and screen time predicting anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescents were tested with hierarchical linear regressions.
Perceptions of less neighborhood safety and higher levels of screen time each uniquely predicted adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms. The relationship between living in a neighborhood perceived as less safe and anxiety symptoms was stronger for youth with high levels of screen time.
The findings suggest that youth residing in less safe neighborhoods may have higher levels of anxiety symptoms, and this anxiety symptomology is higher at high levels of screen time.
邻里安全感较低和屏幕时间较高与青少年焦虑和抑郁独立相关。此外，居住在被认为不安全的社区与屏幕时间的增加有关。屏幕时间可能是邻里安全对内在症状影响不同的潜在机制。然而，研究尚未调查邻里安全与心理社会适应在高和低屏幕时间水平上的关系是否不同。因此，本研究考察了感知邻里安全与屏幕时间对青少年内在症状（即焦虑和抑郁症状）的交互作用。
本研究共招募了 184 名青少年（女性占 53%；平均年龄=17.09，标准差=1.07），他们来自一项正在进行的青少年驾驶员纵向研究。参与者报告了他们对邻里安全、屏幕使用、焦虑和抑郁症状以及人口统计学特征的看法。使用分层线性回归测试了邻里安全和屏幕时间对青少年焦虑和抑郁症状的独立和交互预测作用。
邻里安全感较低和屏幕时间较高均能独立预测青少年的焦虑和抑郁症状。生活在被认为不安全的社区与焦虑症状之间的关系在屏幕时间较高的青少年中更强。
研究结果表明，居住在较不安全社区的青少年可能会出现更高水平的焦虑症状，而这种焦虑症状在屏幕时间较高时更为严重。
