RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT06192745

SCREENS: Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Electronics in the EveNing Study

Experimental Effects of Light And Content From Evening Screen Media Use On Children's Sleep, Executive Functioning, And Emotion Regulation

Sponsor

Baylor College of Medicine

Enrollment

220 participants

Start Date

Jan 10, 2025

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Sleep Circadian Rhythm Emotion Regulation Executive Function

Summary

The proposed project aims to disentangle the impact of evening light exposure emitted from tablet devices from the impact of arousing media content on children's sleep regulation, circadian physiology and next-day emotion regulation and executive functioning.

Eligibility

Min Age: 8 YearsMax Age: 11 Years

Inclusion Criteria9

children between 8.0 and 11.9 year old
Tanner stage 1 and 2
live with their parent(s) (biological or legal guardian at least 50% of the time and has a primary role of caring for the child).
Children who sleep between 8.5 to 11 hours per night habitually
Children must sleep alone most nights
parent and child able to communicate and read and write in English
The child does not have to have access to a mobile device (tablet or Phone), but if they do, the primary device they use has to be an a) Android OS ≥5.0 either used only by the study child or shared with others, b) Amazon Fire OS ≥5.0 that only the child uses or c) an Apple iOS ≥14.0 that only the child uses.
If the child's primary device is a Android or Amazon Fired device, the parent and child agree to install Chronicle App (Android or Amazon). If the child's primary device is an Apple device, the parent and child agree to allow us to gather usage screenshots from the primary iPad or iPhone.
Families must live in the greater Houston area.

Exclusion Criteria8

child blindness or colorblindness
significant vision problems
developmental or cognitive delays
diagnosis of a sleep or psychiatric disorder
diagnosed cognitive or learning impairment affecting executive functioning (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
medical conditions that impact sleep
taking medications that impact sleep
travel beyond 2 time zones in the month before starting the study

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Interventions

BEHAVIORALno screen control with dim light and calming activities

Non-screen-based quiet activities for 1 hour before bed in room lighting 40-50 lux

BEHAVIORALunfiltered Bright tablet screen

Bright light screen media exposure will be delivered on an iPad Pro provided by the research team which will be set to the brightest light intensity setting for 1 hour before bed in room lighting 40-50 lux

BEHAVIORALFiltered dim tablet screen

Filtered dim light screen media exposure will be delivered for 1 hour before bed in room lighting 40-50 lux on an iPad Pro provided by the research team. A blue light filter will be used to alter the spectral distribution of the emitted light and the screen brightness will be dimmed to the lowest possible setting

BEHAVIORALExciting content

We will create a 1-hour recording of movie clips containing exciting content from age-appropriate movies for 8- to 11-year-old children as rated by Common Sense Media.

BEHAVIORALCalming Content

We will create a 1-hour recording of movie clips containing calming content from age-appropriate movies for 8- to 11-year-old children as rated by Common Sense Media.