Poster #128 - Examining Transactional Associations Between Video Game Use and Sleep Duration in US Children

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Insufficient sleep as a modifiable risk factor for obesity, diabetes, mental disorders, executive functioning deficits, and academic failure affects over a third of children in the United States (US) (Chaput et al., 2016; Wheaton & Claussen, 2021). Recreational screen time, consisting of television viewing, computer use, and video game use, can contribute to insufficient sleep directly and indirectly via increasing cognitive arousal, disrupting circadian rhythms, and linking to higher risk of mental disorders (Wolfe et al., 2014). Importantly, the effects may not be unidirectional but transactional, given that insufficient sleep is related to impaired self-regulation and unwillingness to be physically active, both of which may contribute to increases in recreational screen time (Magee et al., 2014; Mazzer et al., 2018). Such transactional associations would place children at elevated risk for negative outcomes. While most existing studies have focused on the overall recreational screen time or passive screen time (e.g., television viewing), it is less clear how active screen time such as video game use is related to children’s health and development. As playing video games has become one of the most popular recreational activities among children, understanding its impacts on development is paramount (Granic et al., 2014). The goal of this study was to examine the longitudinal, transactional associations between video game use and sleep duration in US children.
The analytic sample included 11,923 children (Mage = 9.09 years, SD = 0.37, 51% male) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11. Parents reported the amount of time their children played video games on any given weekday and the time children slept on an average school night each year from 3rd grade through 5th grade. We employed both the cross-lagged panel modeling (CLPM) and random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) to better understand the within- and between-person associations. The CLPM (see Figure 1A) showed transactional associations between video game use and sleep duration from 3rd to 4th grade and from 4th to 5th grade, such that video game use negatively predicted sleep duration in the subsequent grade and vice versa. Results from the RI-CLPM (see Figure 1B) revealed that video game use and sleep duration were negatively correlated at the between-person level, but there were no concurrent or longitudinal associations at the within-person level in 3rd through 5th grade. These findings suggest that the longitudinal, transactional associations between video game use and sleep duration were driven primarily by the stable, trait-like differences between individuals, rather than state-like variations within individuals, highlighting the need to separate between- and within-person processes.

Authors

• Longfeng Li, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Carlos Valiente, Arizona State University

• Connor M. Sheehan, Arizona State University

• Marilyn S. Thompson, Arizona State University

• Matthew P. Buman, Arizona State University