This study sought to determine the directionality of the association between poor performance on a developmental screening questionnaire and increased screen time. (Neither Internet overuse generally, nor increased use of other relational online activities (such as gaming), were significantly elevated among the population studied.) These data suggest that online relationship conflict may be a factor in many adolescent psychiatric admissions, and that identifying and addressing these types of conflicts might help avert such admissions.įew studies have examined the associations between screen time and child outcomes to decipher their directionality. Compared to adolescents with non-media related admissions, teens in this study were significantly more likely to endorse being cyberbullied, engaged in sexting, and using social media sites. Cyberbullying was the most frequent digital-media related cause for admission (28.6%). On that basis, of 218 participants (62% female, and mean age 15.7 years), 31.2% had admissions related to digital media use. The research team relied on a cross-sectional data (from patient self-reports and from clinicians’ admission notes) to clarify admissions as related to digital media. This study tested the hypothesis that adolescent with digital-media related admissions would endorse higher rates of both digital media use and problematic online behaviors. No previous studies examined the role of digital media in precipitating adolescent inpatient psychiatric admissions. Future investigations will need to examine how various forms of screen media activity influence specific psychopathology and cognitive functions, and how this influences changes throughout development. More specifically, these findings provide evidence that screen media activity (i) affects how the brain matures, (ii) specifically affects the brain areas that process sensorimotor information, and (iii) may be associated with problematic outcomes if the development of different brain areas is not well coordinated.
Analysis of this data suggests that SMA is significantly related to brain structure, with mixed consequences for psychopathology and cognitive performance.
Usable structural imaging and SMA data was available for over 4000 subjects. This study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (“ABCD”) study to follow 9-10 year-olds longitudinally through adolescence to examine the relationship between screen media activity and structural brain characteristics. The effects of screen media activity (“SMA”) (including watching television or videos, playing video games, or using social media) on brain structure are not well understood.