How evening tablet and screen use affects young children's sleep and thinking
Experimental effects of children's evening media use on circadian phase, sleep, and executive functioning
This project looks at whether using tablets and other screens in the evening changes young children's body clock, sleep, and thinking skills.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Baylor College of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11174323 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and your child would follow short evening routines that include or exclude tablet/screen use while researchers monitor sleep and timing of the body clock. Children would wear sleep trackers, provide short saliva samples to measure melatonin timing, and complete simple thinking and attention tasks while parents answer brief sleep and behavior questions. By comparing nights with and without evening screen use, the team hopes to see how close screens affect sleep timing, sleep quality, and daytime thinking.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: The best candidates are families with young children (preschool to early school age) who regularly use tablets or other screens in the evening.
Not a fit: Children who never use screens in the evening, infants well below preschool age, or those with sleep problems caused by other medical conditions may not get direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could give clear, practical guidance to parents on evening screen habits to protect children's sleep and daytime thinking.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research links evening screen light with later sleep timing and shorter sleep in older children and adults, but experimental evidence in young children is more limited, so this project builds on known findings while testing them in younger kids.
Where this research is happening
Houston, United States
- Baylor College of Medicine — Houston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Moreno, Jennette P — Baylor College of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Moreno, Jennette P
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 below.