ImportanceTablet use continues to increase in preschool-aged children. The use of mobile devices has been linked to child emotional dysregulation. However, few studies have been able to show a clear direction of association between child tablet use and the development of self-regulation skills. In addition, few studies have modeled within-person associations over time.ObjectiveTo estimate how child tablet use contributes to expressions of anger and frustration across the ages of 3.5 to 5.5 years at the within-person level. The study team also examined the extent to which associations are bidirectional to clarify the direction of the correlations.Design, Setting, and participantsThis prospective, community-based convenience sample of 315 parents of preschool-aged children from Nova Scotia, Canada, was studied repeatedly at the ages of 3.5 (2020), 4.5 (2021), and 5.5 years (2022) during the COVID-19 pandemic. All analyses were conducted between October 5, 2023, and December 15, 2023.ExposureParent-reported tablet use at the ages of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years.Main outcome and measuresParents reported child expressions of anger/frustration at the ages of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years using the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire.ResultsThe sample was equally distributed across child sex (171 were identified by parents as being born boys [54%] and 144 as girls [46%]). Most reported being Canadian (287 [91.0%]) and married (258 [82.0%]). A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed that a 1-SD increase in tablet use at 3.5 years (corresponding to 1.15 hours per day) was associated with a 22% SD scale increase in anger/frustration at age 4.5 years (standardized coefficient = 0.22; 95% CI, 0.01-0.44). A 1 SD scale increase in anger and frustration at 4.5 years was associated with a 22% SD (corresponding to 0.28 hours per day) increase in tablet use at 5.5 years (standardized coefficient = 0.22; 95% CI, 0.01-0.43).Conclusion and relevanceIn this study, child tablet use at age 3.5 years was associated with more expressions of anger and frustration by the age of 4.5 years. Child proneness to anger/frustration at age 4.5 years was then associated with more use of tablets by age 5.5 years. These results suggest that early-childhood tablet use may contribute to a cycle that is deleterious for emotional regulation.

中文翻译：

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儿童早期平板电脑的使用和愤怒的爆发


重要性 学龄前儿童使用平板电脑的人数持续增加。移动设备的使用与儿童情绪失调有关。然而，很少有研究能够表明儿童平板电脑使用与自我调节技能发展之间的明确关联。此外，很少有研究随着时间的推移对人与人之间的关联进行建模。目的评估儿童使用平板电脑如何在人与人之间影响 3.5 至 5.5 岁年龄段的愤怒和沮丧的表达。研究小组还检查了关联的双向程度，以阐明相关性的方向。设计、设置和参与者对来自加拿大新斯科舍省 315 名学龄前儿童家长的前瞻性、基于社区的便利样本进行了反复研究在 COVID-19 大流行期间，年龄分别为 3.5 岁（2020 年）、4.5 岁（2021 年）和 5.5 岁（2022 年）。所有分析均在 2023 年 10 月 5 日至 2023 年 12 月 15 日期间进行。 暴露 父母报告 3.5、4.5 和 5.5 岁时的平板电脑使用情况。 主要结果和措施 父母报告儿童在 3.5 岁、使用儿童行为问卷调查，样本分别为 4.5 岁和 5.5 岁。结果样本在不同性别的儿童中分布均匀（父母认为 171 名生为男孩 [54%]，144 名生为女孩 [46%]）。大多数报告是加拿大人 (287 [91.0%]) 并已婚 (258 [82.0%])。随机截取交叉滞后面板模型显示，3.5 岁时平板电脑使用量增加 1-SD（相当于每天 1.15 小时）与 4.5 岁时愤怒/沮丧情绪增加 22% SD（标准化系数） = 0.22；95% CI，0.01-0.44）。愤怒和沮丧按 1 SD 等级增加为 4。5 岁与 5.5 岁时平板电脑使用增加 22% SD（相当于每天 0.28 小时）相关（标准化系数 = 0.22；95% CI，0.01-0.43）。结论和相关性在本研究中，儿童在 5 岁时使用平板电脑3.5 岁与 4.5 岁时更多地表达愤怒和沮丧有关。儿童在 4.5 岁时容易愤怒/沮丧与 5.5 岁时更多地使用平板电脑相关。这些结果表明，儿童早期使用平板电脑可能会导致一种不利于情绪调节的循环。