Longitudinal associations between screen time activities and working memory neural signatures in adolescents: Sex differences and contextual moderation.
4 affiliations
- 1University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington, Vermont, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 2University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington, Vermont, United States.
- 3Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Milwaukee, WI, United States.
- 4University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington, Vermont, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Introduction
Adolescent screen media activity (SMA) has increased, yet its longitudinal associations with neurocognitive development and mental health remain unclear across activities and contexts.Methods
This longitudinal cohort study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (release 6.0) with four assessments (baseline, year 2, year 4, and year 6). Participants were recruited across 21 U.S. sites to reflect demographic diversity. Children with valid neuroimaging and behavioral data were included, adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and psychiatric confounders. Working memory (WM) neural signature (NS) scores were derived using elastic net classification of EN-back fMRI activation during 0-back and 2-back conditions. SMA included time spent video gaming, watching television, texting, and social media. Cognitive performance was measured using EN-back accuracy, and mental health symptoms using Child Behavior Checklist internalizing and externalizing scores. Moderation analyses examined family conflict, sleep disturbance, and physical activity.Results
The analytic sample included 9931 participants (47.2% female). Higher NS scores were associated with better 0-back and 2-back accuracy. Greater video gaming, texting, and television watching were associated with lower NS scores. Sex-stratified analyses showed among males, more screen time was associated with lower NS scores, a multivariate measure of how separable neural activation patterns are between the 2-back and 0-back conditions. These associations were specific to the EN-back task and were adjusted for general cognitive ability. Higher degrees of family conflict increased the association between NS with texting, and video gaming and externalizing symptoms among males. Sleep disturbance and physical activity also moderated associations with internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with sex-specific patterns.Conclusions
WM-related neural function was associated with cognitive performance and SMA engagement, differing by sex and environmental context, highlighting complex associations between neurocognitive development, media use, and mental health.
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BibTeX
@article{arekatla2026longitudinal,
title = {{Longitudinal associations between screen time activities and working memory neural signatures in adolescents: Sex differences and contextual moderation.}},
author = {Sahithi Arekatla and Anthony Barrows and Leigh-Anne Cioffredi and Matthew D Albaugh and Nicholas Allgaier and Mckay Allred and David Baranger and Alexandra Potter and Hugh P Garavan and Bader Chaarani},
journal = {Developmental cognitive neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101836},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42858496},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Longitudinal associations between screen time activities and working memory neural signatures in adolescents: Sex differences and contextual moderation.
AU - Sahithi Arekatla
AU - Anthony Barrows
AU - Leigh-Anne Cioffredi
AU - Matthew D Albaugh
AU - Nicholas Allgaier
AU - Mckay Allred
AU - David Baranger
AU - Alexandra Potter
AU - Hugh P Garavan
AU - Bader Chaarani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Developmental cognitive neuroscience
DO - 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101836
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42858496
AB - Introduction Adolescent screen media activity (SMA) has increased, yet its longitudinal associations with neurocognitive development and mental health remain unclear across activities and contexts.Methods This longitudinal cohort study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (release 6.0) with four assessments (baseline, year 2, year 4, and year 6). Participants were recruited across 21 U.S. sites to reflect demographic diversity. Children with valid neuroimaging and behavioral data were included, adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and psychiatric confounders. Working memory (WM) neural signature (NS) scores were derived using elastic net classification of EN-back fMRI activation during 0-back and 2-back conditions. SMA included time spent video gaming, watching television, texting, and social media. Cognitive performance was measured using EN-back accuracy, and mental health symptoms using Child Behavior Checklist internalizing and externalizing scores. Moderation analyses examined family conflict, sleep disturbance, and physical activity.Results The analytic sample included 9931 participants (47.2% female). Higher NS scores were associated with better 0-back and 2-back accuracy. Greater video gaming, texting, and television watching were associated with lower NS scores. Sex-stratified analyses showed among males, more screen time was associated with lower NS scores, a multivariate measure of how separable neural activation patterns are between the 2-back and 0-back conditions. These associations were specific to the EN-back task and were adjusted for general cognitive ability. Higher degrees of family conflict increased the association between NS with texting, and video gaming and externalizing symptoms among males. Sleep disturbance and physical activity also moderated associations with internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with sex-specific patterns.Conclusions WM-related neural function was associated with cognitive performance and SMA engagement, differing by sex and environmental context, highlighting complex associations between neurocognitive development, media use, and mental health.
SN - 1878-9293
SN - 1878-9307
ER -