Addictive Screen Use Trajectories and Suicidal Behaviors, Suicidal Ideation, and Mental Health in US Youths

Importance: Increasing child and adolescent use of social media, video games, and mobile phones has raised concerns about potential links to youth mental health problems. Prior research has largely focused on total screen time rather than longitudinal addictive use trajectories.

Objectives: To identify trajectories of addictive use of social media, mobile phones, and video games and to examine their associations with suicidal behaviors and ideation and mental health outcomes among youths.

Design, setting, and participants: Cohort study analyzing data from baseline through year 4 follow-up in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (2016-2022), with population-based samples from 21 US sites.

Exposures: Addictive use of social media, mobile phones, and video games using validated child-reported measures from year 2, year 3, and year 4 follow-up surveys.

Main outcomes and measures: Suicidal behaviors and ideation assessed using child- and parent-reported information via the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Internalizing and externalizing symptoms were assessed using the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist.

Results: The analytic sample (n = 4285) had a mean age of 10.0 (SD, 0.6) years; 47.9% were female; and 9.9% were Black, 19.4% Hispanic, and 58.7% White. Latent class linear mixed models identified 3 addictive use trajectories for social media and mobile phones and 2 for video games. Nearly one-third of participants had an increasing addictive use trajectory for social media or mobile phones beginning at age 11 years. In adjusted models, increasing addictive use trajectories were associated with higher risks of suicide-related outcomes than low addictive use trajectories (eg, increasing addictive use of social media had a risk ratio of 2.14 [95% CI, 1.61-2.85] for suicidal behaviors). High addictive use trajectories for all screen types were associated with suicide-related outcomes (eg, high-peaking addictive use of social media had a risk ratio of 2.39 [95% CI, 1.66-3.43] for suicidal behaviors). The high video game addictive use trajectory showed the largest relative difference in internalizing symptoms (T score difference, 2.03 [95% CI, 1.45-2.61]), and the increasing social media addictive use trajectory for externalizing symptoms (T score difference, 1.05 [95% CI, 0.54-1.56]), compared with low addictive use trajectories. Total screen time at baseline was not associated with outcomes.

Conclusions and relevance: High or increasing trajectories of addictive use of social media, mobile phones, or video games were common in early adolescents. Both high and increasing addictive screen use trajectories were associated with suicidal behaviors and ideation and worse mental health.

Author/s:

Yunyu Xiao, PhD, Yuan Meng, PhD, Timothy T. Brown, PhD

Exercise Videogames, Physical Activity, and Health: Wii Heart Fitness: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Jeffrey Wilson — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 14:33:56 +0000

Date Added:

March 18, 2019

Journal/Publication:

American Journal of Preventative Medicine

Publisher:

Elsevier

Publication Date:

April 1, 2019

Issue:

Volume:

Pages:

501-511

URL:

Exercise Videogames, Physical Activity, and Health: Wii Heart Fitness: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Type:

Clinical Research Results

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1016/j.amepre.2018.11.026

Keywords

video games

exercise

physical activity

PMID (1):

30777705

MeSH

video games

exercise

Videogame-based physical activity appears more likely to be sustained by healthy sedentary adults than standard recommendations. However, in this RCT, it looks like patients received 12 weeks of supervised training on the use of videogame-based activities.

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INTRODUCTION:

Adults who engage in regular physical activity have lower rates of morbidity and mortality than those who do not. Exercise videogames may offer an attractive, sustainable alternative or supplement to traditional modes of exercise. This study compared exercise videogames with standard exercise modalities for improving uptake and maintenance of moderate to vigorous physical activity, and health risk indices.

STUDY DESIGN:

A three-arm clinical RCT including 12 weeks of supervised laboratory-based moderate to vigorous physical activity followed by 6 months follow-up.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:

This study was conducted at a university affiliated hospital research lab. Healthy, sedentary adults were eligible.

INTERVENTIONS:

This study compared a 12-week program of supervised exercise videogames versus standard exercise (e.g., treadmill) versus control. Data were collected from January 2012 to September 2017 and analyzed in 2018.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

The primary outcome was weekly minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity at end of treatment, assessed at 3 and 6 months post-intervention by using self-report and accelerometer data. Health risk indices (e.g., HbA1c, lipids) were also assessed.

RESULTS:

Participants (N=283) had an average age of 46.2 ±13.5 years; 79% were female. At end of treatment, those in the exercise videogame arm engaged in 30 minutes/week more moderate to vigorous physical activity compared with standard exercise and 85 more minutes/week than controls (all p<0.05). Exercise videogame participants had greater reductions in cholesterol, HbA1c, and body fat versus other groups. Reductions in cholesterol were twice as large in exercise videogame versus standard participants.

CONCLUSIONS:

Exercise videogames produced greater uptake and maintenance of moderate to vigorous physical activity compared with standard exercise and improvements in multiple health risk indices. Exercise videogames may promote sustainable physical activity with significant health benefits.

Author/s:

Bock, Beth C., Dunsiger, Shira I., CIccolo, Joseph T., Serber, Eva R., Wu, Wen-Chih, Tilkemeier, Peter, Walaska, Kristen A., Marcus, Bess H.