Premorbid predictors of adolescent normative and problematic screen use: A longitudinal analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) sample

Abstract

Aims: This study aims to assess whether premorbid individual differences in personality (impulsivity, reward sensitivity, and punishment sensitivity), psychopathology tendencies (internalizing and externalizing), and/or neurocognitive abilities (cognitive ability, executive function, and learning/memory) predict overall screen time (ST) versus problematic screen use (PSU) in mid-adolescence. The three research aims are to test whether late childhood individual differences longitudinally predict mid adolescent ST; to test predictiveness of mid adolescent PSU; and to test variation by screen activity. Method: Longitudinal data from 4,754 participants with released data at the baseline and year 4 waves of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCDTM) sample (Release 5.1) were used. Linear regression models tested whether impulsivity (UPPS-P), reward sensitivity (BAS Reward responsiveness + drive), punishment sensitivity (BIS), internalizing, externalizing (CBCL), and/or neurocognitive task performance at ages 9-10 predicted youth-reported ST or PSU of video games, social media, or smartphones at ages 12-15. Post-hoc analyses tested relative contributions of impulsivity sub- facets and replicability of PSU relationships when PSU was operationalized binarily. Results: Higher impulsivity and lower cognitive ability predicted longer video game ST in mid adolescence, and higher impulsivity and reward sensitivity predicted longer social media ST. Higher impulsivity predicted later PSU across screen activities. Higher punishment sensitivity and internalizing only predicted higher PSU of video games, and higher reward sensitivity only predicted higher PSU of phones. Conclusions: While impulsivity may underpin several forms of PSU, different risk factors among PSU of video games, social media, and smartphones suggest the use of different intervention strategies in the treatment of each behavior.