Sleep duration moderates link between youth impulsivity, mature-rated media use

Key takeaways:

• More than 2,700 adolescents were monitored for sleep duration and answered questions on impulsivity and mature-rated media use.
• Sleep duration moderates the link between impulsivity and R-rated movie watching.

INDIANAPOLIS — Higher impulsivity and shorter sleep duration were predictive for increased mature-rated video gaming and movie watching after 1 year in early adolescents, according to research presented at the SLEEP annual meeting.

“Impulsive adolescents with shorter sleep duration are more likely to be exposed to R-rated content,” Linhao Zhang, MSEd, lead study author and doctoral student in the department of human development and family science at the University of Georgia, said in a related release.

Prior research has shown that youth with higher impulsivity are more susceptible to early use of mature-rated movies and gaming, with sleep as mitigating factor for emotional and behavioral regulation.

Zhang and colleagues sought to examine whether sleep duration moderates the link between impulsive behaviors and exposure to mature-rated movies and video games by conducting a longitudinal study, using data from 2,757 youth (49.3% girls; mean age at 3-year follow-up, 12.9 years) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Participants were asked to wear Fitbit watches for at least 7 days to measure their weighted weekly sleep duration, which was assessed at a 2-year follow-up. They also completed the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale at this time, as well as questionnaires on R-rated movie watching and mature video gaming at 2- and 3-year follow-ups.

Researchers used structural equation modeling to gauge effects of impulsivity and sleep duration on mature media use, controlling for bedtime media usage, parental monitoring and demographic covariates.

Results showed that higher impulsivity was predictive of more R-rated movie watching (P < .001) 1 year later, while shorter sleep duration was predictive of more mature video gaming (P = .006) and R-rated movie watching (P < .001) after 1 year.

Researchers additionally reported that sleep duration moderates the link between impulsivity and R-rated movie watching (P = .03) and that in adolescents with high impulsivity, shorter sleep duration was linked with an increased risk for watching R-rated movies.

“Our results show that sleep duration may be a modifiable factor for prevention and intervention efforts, especially in adolescents at higher risk for excessive mature-rated media usage,” Zhang said in the release.

Reference:

• Sleep loss moderates link between youth impulsivity and mature-rated media usage. https://www.sleepmeeting.org/sleep-loss-moderates-link-between-youth-impulsivity-and-mature-rated-media-usage/. Published June 1, 2023. Accessed June 11, 2023.