Association between screen time and autistic behavior in infants and toddlers / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the association between screen time and autistic behavior in infants and young children, and to provide clues to the mechanism for further research.@*Methods@#The primary caregivers of 22 586 children in the district of Longhua in Shenzhen were surveyed. Demographic data and screen time were collected using a selfdisigned questionnaire, and children’s autistic behavior was assessed using the child Autism Behavior Checklist(ABC).The chisquare test was used to analyze the correlation between demographic data and screen time, demographic data and autistic behavior, and screen time and autistic behavior. Unconditioned Logistic regression model was used to study the effect of electronic screen exposure on autistic behavior.@*Results@#The amount of screen time spent in infancy increased with age. For children ages 0-,1- and 2-3 years, 60.1%, 35.0% and 20.2% respectively did not watch TV, and 74.0%, 52.6% and 26.8% respectively did not watch the new generation of electronic products. The positive rate of ABC scale screening was 5.3%, including 6.0% male and 4.4% female, OR(95%CI)=1.37 (1.23-1.54).There was correlations between screen time and autistic behavior in infants at all ages (P<0.05).Screen time increased the risk of autistic behavior in younger age groups than in older age groups. For 1 year olds with moderate screen exposure, increased screen exposure at 2 to 3 years of age was associated with an increased risk of autistic behaviors, while reduced screen exposure at 2 to 3 years of age was associated with a lower risk of autistic behaviors(OR=2.14, 2.77, P<0.05). The higher daily screen time at 0-3 years old was, the greater risk of autistic behaviors. Compared with the noncontact electronic screen group, the OR values of the daily TV screens in the ≥1 h/d group and the ＜1 h/d group were 2.01 and 2.45, respectively (P＜0.05).Compared with the non-contact electronic screen group, the OR values of the screens exposed to the new generation of electronic products in the ≥1 h/d group and the ＜1 h/d group were 2.01 and 2.33, respectively(P<0.05).The higher the time of single exposure to electronic screen between 0 and 3 years old, the greater the risk of autistic behaviors. The OR values were 2.50, 1.79 and 1.47 when ≥1 h/time, 0.5-1 h/time and 15-30 min/time compared with <15 min/time（P<0.05）. @*Conclusion@#Early exposure to electronic screens in infants, excessive total daily exposure to electronic screens, and excessive screen time each time are all likely to increase autistic behavior. Therefore, it is suggested that children under 2 years old should not be exposed to electronic screens every day. Children aged 2-3 years old who are exposed to electronic screens＜0.5 h/d and whose screen time <15 min might not significantly increase autistic behaviors.