SCREENS (secondary analysis)
Trial question
What is the role of screen media reduction intervention in healthy children and adolescents?
Study design
Multi-center
Open label
RCT
Population
Characteristics of study participants
54.0% female
46.0% male
N = 173
173 patients (93 female, 80 male).
Inclusion criteria: healthy children and adolescents who were able to hand over their smartphones or tablets for 2 weeks.
Key exclusion criteria: children aged < 4 years; unable to engage in regular physical activities of daily life; sleep disorder; any neuropsychiatric or developmental disorder.
Interventions
N=82 screen media reduction (hand over smartphones and tablets for 2 weeks and reduce leisure screen media use to < 3 hours/week).
N=91 usual screen media use (usual screen media use during leisure).
Primary outcome
Reduction in mean total behavioral difficulties score on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 2 weeks
1.74 points
0.12 points
1.7 points
1.3 points
0.9 points
0.4 points
0.0 points
Screen media
reduction
Usual screen media
use
Significant
increase ▲
Significantly greater reduction in mean total behavioral difficulties score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 2 weeks (1.74 points vs. 0.12 points; MD 1.67, 95% CI 0.67 to 2.68).
Secondary outcomes
Significantly greater reduction in mean internalizing symptoms score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 2 weeks (1.01 points vs. -0.02 points; MD 1.03, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.76).
Significantly greater reduction in mean peer problems score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 2 weeks (0.23 points vs. -0.31 points; MD 0.54, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.85).
Significantly lower reduction in mean prosocial behavior score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 2 weeks (-0.21 points vs. 0.64 points; MD -0.84, 95% CI -1.3 to -0.39).
Conclusion
In healthy children and adolescents who were able to hand over their smartphones or tablets for 2 weeks, screen media reduction was superior to usual screen media use with respect to reduction in mean total behavioral difficulties score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 2 weeks.
Reference
Jesper Schmidt-Persson, Martin Gillies Banke Rasmussen, Sarah Overgaard Sørensen et al. Screen Media Use and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Jul 1;7(7):e2419881.
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