# Experimental effects of light and content from evening screen media use on children's sleep, executive functioning, and emotion regulation

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $605,932

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Children’s screen media use has increased dramatically in recent years. Greater screen use, especially during
the evening hours, is routinely, though not unequivocally, associated with disruption of sleep including shorter
sleep duration, difficulty falling asleep, and reduced overall sleep quality. Based in a wealth of research showing
poor sleep health in childhood to robustly forecast a wide range of adverse outcomes (e.g., obesity, psychiatric
disorders, poor cognitive and academic performance, emotion dysregulation, increased risk-taking behaviors,
suicidality), current guidelines provided by virtually every major pediatric health organization/association
recommend that children avoid use of electronic screens in the hour before bed. While perhaps intuitive,
empirical evidence to support this guideline is largely cross-sectional. That is, causal effects of evening screen
use on children’s sleep and circadian timing have not been sufficiently demonstrated nor have the mechanism(s)
through which sleep disruption may occur been clarified. Experimental studies are therefore necessary to provide
professionals and parents with evidence-based guidance and inform developmental research. The goal of the
current study is to systematically test the impact of light exposure from screens as well as arousing media content
on N=200 school-aged children’s (8 to 11 years) sleep regulation and circadian timing, in addition to next-day
emotion regulation and executive functioning. Our novel ability to objectively assess and account for children’s
daytime tablet use history will allow us to accurately isolate the effects of evening screen use on children’s sleep.
Using a 4-group randomized, controlled design including assessment of typical sleep and media use followed
by a 3-day experimental protocol, we plan to: 1) systematically test the effects of evening screen media use in
the natural home environment on children’s sleep duration, sleep latency, and subjective sleep quality; 2)
translate experimental research methods from the laboratory to the home environment to examine the impact of
bright light emitted from screens and exposure to arousing media content on children’s sleep, circadian
physiology, and physiological arousal; 3) examine the role of evening screen use on children’s next day executive
functioning and emotion regulation. The proposed research addresses several critical gaps in scientific
knowledge regarding the impact of evening screen media use on children’s sleep health, including elucidating
the specific mechanism(s) through which potential negative impacts may occur. Results may directly inform
national guidelines and policies regarding evening screen media use in all children.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10918189
- **Project number:** 5R01HD112349-02
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Candice A Alfano
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $605,932
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10918189

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10918189, Experimental effects of light and content from evening screen media use on children's sleep, executive functioning, and emotion regulation (5R01HD112349-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10918189. Licensed CC0.

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