ArticleEating and weight disorders : EWD2024
Screen time, problematic screen use, and eating disorder symptoms among early adolescents: findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
Article in Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Associations of Problematic Smartphone Use and Smartphone Screen Time With Eating Disorder Psychopathology in Non-Clinical Samples: A Systematic Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Neuroimaging and machine learning in eating disorders: a systematic review.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review on the eating behaviors of youth exceeding electronic device recommendations.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Increasing social media use trajectories are linked to greater eating disorder symptoms.Annals of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Engaging Medical Students in Adolescent Health Research: An Innovative Summer Rotation Model.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2026Article
- Smartphone Ownership and Eating Disorder Symptoms in Early Adolescence.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- The Roles of Delayed Cortical Maturation and Lower Anticipatory Reward Activation in Predicting Addictive Screen Use in Youth.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2026Article
- Digital Media Use and Psychosocial Health among Adolescent Boys and Young Men.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Physical activity, emotional eating, screen-based sedentary behavior, and physical and mental health in chinese university students: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The relationship between problematic digital media use and food addiction, eating behaviours, and obesity: a cross-sectional study on Turkish university students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Tackling the social determinants of childhood obesity in the United States: policy brief and lessons for developed and emerging economies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Smartphone Ownership, Age of Smartphone Acquisition, and Health Outcomes in Early Adolescence.Pediatrics · 2026Article
- Adolescent screen time, anxiety/depression, and alcohol/e-cigarette use: evidence from the ABCD study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Debate: Social media in children and young people - time for a ban? It is time to take a precautionary approach. Why health professionals are calling for a ban on social media for under-16s.Child and adolescent mental health · 2025Article
- Review
- Body image perception and dieting among "screenagers" in Poland.International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2025Article
- Genome-wide analysis of screen behaviors among adolescents identifies novel loci and overlap with educational attainment and mental disorders.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Beyond problematic social media use and the brain: A public health and policy perspective.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Measurement of critical health literacy in primary school pupils: a Polish validation of the Claim Evaluation Tools.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Associations Between Screen Time Use and Health Outcomes Among US Teenagers.Preventing chronic disease · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeEmerging research evidence suggests positive relationships between higher screen time and eating disorders. However, few studies have examined the prospective associations between screen use and eating disorder symptoms in early adolescents and how problematic screen use may contribute to symptom development.
methodsWe analyzed prospective cohort data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N = 10,246, 2016-2020, ages 9-14). Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the longitudinal associations between baseline self-reported screen time and eating disorder symptoms in year two. Logistic regression analyses were also used to estimate cross-sectional associations between problematic screen use in year two (either problematic social media or mobile phone use) and eating disorder symptoms in year two. Eating disorder symptoms based on the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS-5) included fear of weight gain, self-worth tied to weight, engaging in compensatory behaviors, binge eating, and distress with binge eating.
resultsEach additional hour of total screen time and social media use was associated with higher odds of fear of weight gain, self-worth tied to weight, compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, binge eating, and distress with binge eating two years later (odds ratio [OR] 1.05-1.55). Both problematic social media and mobile phone use were associated with higher odds of all eating disorder symptoms (OR 1.26-1.82).
conclusionsFindings suggest greater total screen time, social media use, and problematic screen use are associated with more eating disorder symptoms in early adolescence. Clinicians should consider assessing for problem screen use and, when high, screen for disordered eating. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies.
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