The Goodnight Screen Media Study

Baylor College of Medicine

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Sleep; Sleep Hygiene

Treatments: Behavioral: no technology and digital media use (screen media use); Behavioral: Timed evening technology and digital media use (tablet use)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT05820555

P01 HD109876-01 5256 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

H-52269

Details and patient eligibility

About

To test the timing of evening tablet use on children's circadian phase and sleep (i.e., sleep onset and sleep duration) compared to no screen media use. To explore the effect of evening tablet use on children's inhibitory control and executive function.

Full description

The goal of the study is to test the effect of tablet use before bed on the sleep, circadian phase, and executive functioning (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 B:1 hour of tablet use 2 hours before bed) or a control condition (no evening screen media use). It is hypothesized that in comparison to no tablet use, daily exposure to tablet use before bed will be associated with a delay in children's circadian phase (e.g., occurring later in the evening/night), a longer sleep latency (i.e., later sleep onset), and shorter sleep duration. It is anticipated that tablet use in the hour before bed will have a greater impact on children's circadian phase and sleep than tablet use 2 hours before bed, or no tablet use before bed. We will explore whether changes in circadian phase and sleep result in poorer performance on measures of EF (i.e., inhibitory control and working memory).

Enrollment: 180 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 48 to 59 months old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• preschool-aged children (4.0 to <5.0 years old) and their parent
• living in the Greater Houston area.
• parent must be a biological parent or legal guardian who lives with the child ≥50% of the time and has a primary role of caring for the child
• parent is comfortable participating in the study and responding to questionnaires in English.
• The child does not have to have access to mobile device, but if they do, the primary device they use has to be an Android OS ≥5.0 either used only by the study child or shared with others, or an Apple iOS ≥14.0 that only the child uses.
• Parent and child must be fluent in English.

Exclusion criteria

• The child has a chronic medical condition or takes a medication affecting sleep, or circadian rhythms (e.g., melatonin supplementation, diagnosed sleep disorder, steroid use, etc.) or a diagnosed cognitive or learning impairment affecting EF (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
• Child with blindness or significant vision problems that impacts both screen media use and sleep.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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180 participants in 3 patient groups

Group A: 1 hour of tablet use in the hour before bed

Experimental group

Description:

During week 1, children will maintain a sleep schedule within 30 minutes +/- of their habitual bedtime. This bedtime will be maintained throughout the 3 weeks of the study except on nights when dim light melatonin onset is assessed in the lab. During week 2, participants will be asked to reframe from screen use in the 3 hours before bed time for 6 evenings. During week 3, participants will be exposed to 1 hour of tablet use (Standard bright setting), 1 hour before bedtime for 6 evenings.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Timed evening technology and digital media use (tablet use)

Group B: 1 hour of tablet use 2 hours before bed

Experimental group

Description:

During week 1, children will maintain a sleep schedule within 30 minutes +/- of their habitual bedtime. This bedtime will be maintained throughout the 3 weeks of the study except on nights when dim light melatonin onset is assessed in the lab. During week 2, participants will be asked to reframe from screen use in the 3 hours before bedtime for 6 evenings. During week 3, participants will be exposed to 1 hour of tablet use (Standard bright setting), 2 hours before bedtime (and no screen use in the hour before bed) for 6 evenings.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Timed evening technology and digital media use (tablet use)

Control Condition

Active Comparator group

Description:

During week 1, children will maintain a sleep schedule within 30 minutes +/- of their habitual bedtime. This bedtime will be maintained throughout the 3 weeks of the study except on nights when dim light melatonin onset is assessed in the lab. During week 2, participants will engage no screen use for the 3 hours before bedtime for 6 evenings. During week 3, participants will be asked to engage in no screen use in the 3 hours before bedtime for 6 evenings.

Treatment:

Behavioral: no technology and digital media use (screen media use)