How evening screen light and content affect children's sleep and mood
Official title: Experimental effects of light and content from evening screen media use on children's sleep, executive functioning, and emotion regulation
Funded at Baylor College of Medicine · NIH-11184308 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether the light and exciting content from evening screen use makes sleep, mood, and thinking worse for children ages 8 to 11.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Baylor College of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $598,111 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD112349-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11184308 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are school-aged children about 8 to 11 years old who regularly use screens in the evening and can attend study visits at Baylor in Houston.
✕Less likely to help
Infants, children under 8, older teenagers, or children who do not use screens in the evening are unlikely to be eligible or to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If your child takes part, researchers will enroll about 200 children ages 8 to 11 and expose them to different evening screen conditions that vary in screen light and how stimulating the content is. They will measure sleep and circadian timing with objective tools and track next-day emotion regulation and executive functioning. The study uses controlled, night-by-night comparisons to separate the effects of light from the effects of arousing content. Results are intended to help parents make clearer choices about screen use before bedtime.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the results could give parents clear guidance on evening screen use to help children sleep better and improve mood and daytime thinking.
How similar studies have gone: Most prior work is observational and shows links between evening screen time and poor sleep, but controlled experimental studies in children are limited, so this approach is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Moreno, Jennette P — Baylor College of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Moreno, Jennette P
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.