@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {10509},
      author = {Wu, Helena T. and Li, Jiandong and Tsurumi, Amy},
      title = {Change in screen time and overuse, and their association  with psychological well-being among US-wide school-age  children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of the  National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) years 2018–21},
      journal = {Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health},
      address = {2024-01-13},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      abstract = {&lt;p&gt;Background: Previous studies on screen use and  children's mental health during the Coronavirus Disease  2019 (COVID-19) pandemic focused only on the timeframe  during the pandemic, on children between narrow age ranges,  only among a subset of children who have previously  reported COVID-related severe family economic hardship or  worries, or did not distinguish between instructive versus  recreational device usage. Thus, in this study, we analyzed  trends, specifically related to recreational screen use,  and associations with psychological well-being (PWB) in the  years before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic, among a  wide range of school-aged children, widely across the  nation.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods: Using the National Survey of  Children's Health (NSCH) years 2018-21, we analyzed a large  random sample of school-aged children (6-17 years old)  across the US (n = 88,823). We developed PWB issue scores  (PWBIS) using self-reported measures relevant to this age  group, and constructed regression models to assess the  magnitude of the contribution of the pandemic on  recreational screen use and PWB.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Results: The  prevalence of recreational screen overuse and PWBIS  increased significantly during the pandemic, compared to  prior years. We also detected a notable effect of the  pandemic on increased PWBIS, as well as its interaction  term finding that it strengthened the association between  screen time and PWBIS (p &lt; 0.01 across all regression  models).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: Accordingly, our results  demonstrate the importance of the pandemic itself as an  independent adverse factor and effect measure modifier for  screen overuse and PWB more generally among all school-age  children widely across the US. Our study used the most  current data available, and future studies to evaluate  whether these effects are persistent in the years after the  pandemic are important.&lt;/p&gt;},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/10509},
}