Screen time and manic symptoms in early adolescents: prospective findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study

Purpose: This study aimed to examine prospective associations between screen time and manic symptoms in early adolescents, and the extent to which problematic screen use (characterized by addiction, conflict, relapse, and withdrawal) mediates the association. Methods: We analyzed prospective cohort data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 9,243; ages 10–11 years in Year 1 in 2017–2019; 48.8% female; 44.0% racial/ethnic minority). Participants reported daily time spent on six different screen subtypes. Linear regression analyses were used to determine associations between typical daily screen time (Year 1; total and subtypes) and manic symptoms (Year 3, 7 Up Mania scale), adjusting for potential confounders. Sleep duration, problematic social media use, and problematic video game use (Year 2) were tested as potential mediators. Results: Adjusting for covariates, overall typical daily screen time in Year 1 was prospectively associated with higher manic symptoms in Year 3 (B = 0.05, 95% CI 0.03, 0.07, p < 0.001), as were four subtypes: social media (B = 0.20, 95% CI 0.09, 0.32, p = 0.001), texting (B = 0.18, 95%CI 0.08, 0.28, p < 0.001), videos (B = 0.14, 95% CI 0.08, 0.19, p < 0.001), and video games (B = 0.09, 95% CI 0.04, 0.14, p = 0.001). Problematic social media use, video game use, and sleep duration in Year 2 were found to be significant partial mediators (47.7%, 58.0%, and 9.0% mediation, respectively). Conclusion: Results indicate significant prospective relationships between screen time and manic symptoms in early adolescence and highlight problematic screen use, video game use, and sleep duration as potential mediators. Problematic screen use may be a target for mental health prevention and early intervention efforts among adolescents.