Experimental effects of children's evening media use on circadian phase, sleep, and executive functioning

项目摘要/摘要 在大流行期间，儿童科技和数字媒体(TDM)的使用，特别是平板电脑的使用，急剧增加。更多地使用TDM与不健康的睡眠习惯相关，包括睡眠持续时间较短，睡眠时间较晚，难以入睡，以及睡眠质量较差。这一点令人担忧，因为儿童时期睡眠时间较短、睡眠时间较晚、睡眠质量较差与肥胖及其相关疾病的发展、执行功能(EF)和学习表现较差以及青春期焦虑和抑郁的风险增加有关。TDM使用影响睡眠的最有可能的机制之一是通过晚间光线暴露的贡献。夜间暴露在光线下会向昼夜节律系统发出警报信号，发出白天的信号，从而抑制褪黑激素的释放。褪黑素是一种向身体发出信号，告诉身体该睡觉的激素。移动设备(例如平板电脑)在儿童中的普遍使用可能会对儿童的昼夜节律系统造成更大的影响，因为该设备离眼睛很近。为了减少与TDM使用和睡眠问题相关的风险，父母需要关于TDM使用对孩子昼夜节律和睡眠的潜在影响的实际指导，特别是在孩子对屏幕设备发出的光最敏感的晚上。项目3的目标是通过3组随机对照试验，系统地测试睡前服用TDM对4岁儿童睡眠、昼夜节律和EF的影响。在该试验中，儿童被分配到2个实验条件之一(A组：睡前1小时使用片剂；8组：睡前2小时使用片剂)或对照条件(晚上不使用TOM)。这项拟议的研究解决了关于在家庭环境中使用夜间TDM的影响和时间的科学知识方面的几个空白。首先，儿童服用TDM的时间相对于就寝时间的影响尚不清楚。其次，除了家庭照明的影响之外，晚上使用TDM对儿童的昼夜节律、睡眠和执行功能的影响程度尚不清楚。我们的发现将解决文献中的这些空白，并对儿童夜间使用TDM的指南产生直接影响。我们能够客观评估和控制儿童白天TOM的使用，并使用闪光灯电视和用于评估平板电脑使用的应用程序评估治疗保真度，这一新颖的能力使我们能够在家庭环境中进行这项实验研究。由于这些创新，本研究将首次将实验研究方法从实验室转换到家庭环境中，以考察晚光暴露对儿童昼夜生理的影响；2)研究家庭环境中夜间TDM使用对学龄前儿童昼夜节律的影响；3)系统地测试家庭环境中夜间TDM使用对儿童睡眠开始和持续时间的影响；以及4)探索家庭环境中夜间TDM使用对儿童EF(抑制控制和工作记忆)的影响。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT During the pandemic, children's technology and digital media (TDM) use, and in particular tablet use, has increased dramatically. Greater TDM use has been associated with less healthy sleep habits including shorter sleep duration, later sleep timing, difficulty falling asleep, and poorer sleep quality. This is concerning as shorter sleep duration, later sleep timing, and poorer sleep quality in childhood have been linked with the development of obesity and associated conditions, poorer executive functioning (EF) and academic performance, and increased risk for anxiety and depression in adolescence. One of the most likely mechanisms through which TDM use affects sleep is through the contribution of evening light exposure. Exposure to light at night sends an alerting signal to the circadian system, signaling that it is daytime, suppressing the release of melatonin, a hormone that signals to the body that it is time to sleep. The pervasive use of mobile devices (e.g., tablets) among children may pose an even greater impact on children's circadian system due to the closeness of the device to the eye. To mitigate risks associated with TDM use and sleep problems, parents need practical guidance about the potential impact of TDM use on their children's circadian rhythms and sleep, especially in the evening when children are most sensitive to the light emitted from screen devices. The goal of Project 3 is to systematically test the effect of TDM use before bed on the sleep, circadian phase, and EF of 4-year-olds using a 3-group randomized controlled trial in which children are assigned to receive one of 2 experimental conditions (Group A:1 hour of tablet use in the hour before bed; Group 8: 1 hour of tablet use 2 hours before bed) or a control condition (no evening TOM use). The proposed research addresses several gaps in scientific knowledge regarding the impact and timing of evening TDM use in the home environment. First, the impact of the timing of TDM use relative to bedtime in children is unknown. Second, the extent to which evening TDM use affects children's circadian phase, sleep, and executive functioning above and beyond the effects of household lighting is unknown. Our findings will address these gaps in the literature and have direct implications on the guidelines for evening TDM use among children. Our novel ability to objectively assess and control for children's daytime TOM use and assess treatment fidelity using FLASH-TV and apps for assessing tablet use allows us to conduct this experimental study in the home environment. Due to these innovations, the proposed study will be the first to: 1) translate experimental research methods from the laboratory to the home environment to examine the impact of evening light exposure on children's circadian physiology; 2) examine the impact of evening TDM use in the home environment on the circadian timing of preschoolers; 3) systematically test the effects of evening TDM use in the home environment on children's sleep onset and duration; and 4) explore the role of evening TDM use in the home environment on children's EF (inhibitory control and working memory).