ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2025
Excessive digital devices use as an intermediate variable between heterogeneous adverse childhood experiences and psychopathology in US adolescents: a latent class cross-sectional analysis.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent a significant public health concern in the US. While research has established links between ACEs and psychopathology, the behavioral mechanisms intermediating this relationship in adolescents remain limited, particularly regarding digital device usage behaviors in the technological era.
objectiveI examined the intermediate role of excessive digital device use (EDDU) in the relationship between heterogeneous ACEs and psychopathology in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents.
methodsData from the 2021-2023 National Survey of Children's Health included 50,285 adolescents ([Formula: see text]=14.47 ± 1.7, 49% girls, weighted N = 23,930,493). Latent class analysis identified ACE patterns. Logistic regression models and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method assessed associations between ACE classes, EDDU, and disorders, controlling for sociodemographic factors and accounting for complex survey design.
resultsFour distinct ACE classes emerged: Low ACE Exposure (LAE), Economic and Family Hardship (EFH), Community and Discrimination Stress (CDS), and Pervasive ACEs Exposure (PAE). Compared to LAE, PAE showed the strongest association with EDDU (OR = 2.28, 95% CI [1.89,2.74]) and with depression (OR = 7.72, 95% CI [6.28,9.48]) and anxiety (OR = 5.36, 95% CI [4.43,6.47]). EDDU significantly intermediated the relationship between ACE classes and all three disorders, showing stronger effects for internalizing disorders than for ADHD.
conclusionsACE patterns show heterogeneous associations with adolescent EDDU and psychopathology in this cross-sectional analysis. Statistical relationships between ACEs, EDDU, and mental health problems suggest potential behavioral pathways that warrant longitudinal investigation. While causal relationships cannot be established, these findings highlight digital device use as a potentially relevant factor when supporting adolescents with adverse childhood experiences.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40471417What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.