2026-10-15T03:49:45Z https://www.scidb.cn/oai

10.57760/sciencedb.j00253.04731 2026-05-29T16:45:43Z

2026-05-29 Longitudinal Study on the Association of Screen Time and Sleep Duration with Behavioral Problems in Preschool Children doi:10.57760/sciencedb.j00253.04731 en Objective This study aimed to examine the dynamic associations between screen time, sleep duration, and behavioral problems in preschool children, providing theoretical evidence for early intervention.Methods A cohort study design was employed to conduct baseline (T1) and two follow−up surveys one year apart (T2, T3) among 5,467 preschool children in Anhui Province, China. Daily cumulative screen time and sleep duration were assessed, and behavioral problems were evaluated using the parent−reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). A three−wave cross−lagged panel model (CLPM) was constructed using Mplus 8.0, controlling for covariates including gender and age, as well as concurrent correlations between different variables at each time point.Results After adjusting for confounding factors, significant autoregressive effects were observed for screen time, behavioral problems, and sleep duration across adjacent time points (β= 0.19–0.54, P＜0.01). Cross−lagged effects revealed that, from T1 to T2, screen time and behavioral problems showed significant bidirectional positive predictions (β=0.03–0.04, P＜0.01). From T2 to T3, screen time continued to significantly positively predict behavioral problems (β=0.02, P＜0.01), whereas the reverse prediction was non−significant (β=0.02, P=0.111). From T1 to T2, sleep duration significantly positively predicted behavioral problems (β=0.03, P＜0.01), and sleep duration significantly negatively predicted behavioral problems (β=−0.05, P＜0.01). From T2 to T3, sleep duration and behavioral problems demonstrated significant bidirectional negative predictions (β=−0.07 to −0.06, P＜0.01).Conclusions Screen time and sleep duration exert negative influences on behavioral problems in preschool children, with such effects demonstrating longitudinal lagged effects. Screen; Sleep; Behavior; Children, Preschool Kiara null.null null.null null.null null.null null.null PUBLIC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ dataset Science Data Bank