G Chandra Sekhar, V Haarika, Tumati Kedarnath Reddy, Ramisetty Uma Mahesh
Department of Paediatrics, Narayana Medical College and Hospital, Nellore, IND.
Cureus. 2024 Feb 29;16(2):e55229. doi: 10.7759/cureus.55229. eCollection 2024 Feb.
In a world filled with technology, there's concern about the impact of screen time on children and teenagers. A recent study of 11,875 children aged nine to 10 in the US explored how screen time affects mental health, behaviour, school performance, sleep, and friendships. The results indicate that more screen time is mildly linked to worse mental health, more behaviour problems, lower academic performance, and poorer sleep, but slightly better peer relationships. However, these connections were weak, with socioeconomic status (SES) having a stronger influence on these outcomes. The study doesn't prove that screen time causes these issues, suggesting that increased screen time might not be directly harmful to children in this age group. The research adds to the understanding of how screen time impacts children's well-being and highlights the importance of promoting healthy habits. Our study aims to add to this literature by examining how screen time impacts sleep quality, dream recall, and academic performance in school-aged children. Understanding the potential consequences of screen time is crucial for promoting healthy habits and ensuring the overall well-being of children. Our research seeks to provide further insights into the relationship between screen time and key aspects of children's lives as its prevalence continues to rise.
The research incorporates a cohort of 1000 school-aged children, bifurcated evenly into two categories based on their daily screen exposure: a low screen time group (less than one hour daily, n = 500) and a high screen time group (over three hours daily, n = 500). The study probes into the correlation between screen time and various health parameters, such as sleep patterns, dream recall, and academic prowess.
The analysis showed that children with low screen time had better sleep efficiency (90% vs. 75%), more frequent dream recall (70% vs. 30%), fewer nocturnal awakenings (0.5 vs. 1.5 times weekly), less daytime sleepiness (20% vs. 60%), and higher physical activity levels (60 vs. 30 minutes per day) compared to those with high screen time. They also had less weekend sleep variability (1.2 hours) and a lower risk of circadian rhythm disturbances (20% increased risk in the high screen time group). Additionally, a screen-free bedroom was more common in the low screen time group (85% vs. 30%), and parental involvement in sleep routines was higher (90% vs. 40%). Academically, the low screen time group achieved higher grades ('A' to 'A+' vs. 'B'), and they had more face-to-face social interactions (two vs. one hour per day).
Escalating screen time is correlated with detrimental impacts on sleep efficiency, dream recall, physical activity, circadian rhythms, and academic performance in school-aged children. Fostering a screen-free bedroom environment and augmenting parental involvement in sleep routines may alleviate these adverse effects.
在一个充满科技的世界里，人们担心屏幕使用时间对儿童和青少年的影响。最近一项针对美国11875名9至10岁儿童的研究探讨了屏幕使用时间如何影响心理健康、行为、学业成绩、睡眠和友谊。结果表明，更多的屏幕使用时间与较差的心理健康、更多的行为问题、较低的学业成绩和较差的睡眠有轻微关联，但同伴关系略好。然而，这些联系很微弱，社会经济地位（SES）对这些结果有更强的影响。该研究并未证明屏幕使用时间会导致这些问题，这表明增加屏幕使用时间可能不会直接对这个年龄段的儿童有害。这项研究增进了我们对屏幕使用时间如何影响儿童幸福感的理解，并强调了培养健康习惯的重要性。我们的研究旨在通过研究屏幕使用时间如何影响学龄儿童的睡眠质量、梦境回忆和学业成绩来补充这方面的文献。了解屏幕使用时间的潜在后果对于培养健康习惯和确保儿童的整体幸福感至关重要。随着屏幕使用时间的普遍增加，我们的研究旨在进一步深入了解其与儿童生活关键方面之间的关系。
该研究纳入了1000名学龄儿童，根据他们每天的屏幕暴露情况平均分为两类：低屏幕使用时间组（每天少于1小时，n = 500）和高屏幕使用时间组（每天超过3小时，n = 500）。该研究探讨了屏幕使用时间与各种健康参数之间的相关性，如睡眠模式、梦境回忆和学业能力。
分析表明，与高屏幕使用时间的儿童相比，低屏幕使用时间的儿童睡眠效率更高（90%对75%），梦境回忆更频繁（70%对30%），夜间醒来次数更少（每周0.5次对1.5次），白天嗜睡情况更少（20%对60%），身体活动水平更高（每天60分钟对30分钟）。他们周末睡眠的变异性也更小（1.2小时），昼夜节律紊乱的风险更低（高屏幕使用时间组风险增加20%）。此外，低屏幕使用时间组中无屏幕卧室更为常见（85%对30%），父母对睡眠习惯的参与度更高（90%对40%）。在学业方面，低屏幕使用时间组取得了更高的成绩（‘A’至‘A+’对‘B’），并且他们有更多的面对面社交互动（每天两小时对一小时）。
屏幕使用时间的增加与学龄儿童的睡眠效率、梦境回忆、身体活动、昼夜节律和学业成绩的不利影响相关。营造无屏幕的卧室环境并加强父母对睡眠习惯的参与可能会减轻这些不利影响。
