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According to a new American study, there is a link between obsessive-compulsive disorder, also called OCD, and time spent in front of a screen. But not all screens present the same risks.
Screen time is the time spent in front of a screen whether it is television, mobile phone, video games or tablet. But not all screens have the same impact on children, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
What are TOCs?
OCD or obsessive compulsive disorder is a mental disorder causing recurrent thoughts, which push the individual who suffers from it to adopt repetitive behaviors. For their work, the researchers chose to recruit children between the ages of 9 and 10, because the incidence of OCD tends to peak around this age.
Over 9,000 pre-teens studied
Thus, more than 9,000 American children were included in the analysis, taking care to balance the group from the point of view of gender and ethnic origins. Children were asked a questionnaire about their screen time and its type: number of hours spent watching TV, videos, being on social networks, texting or playing video games . The researchers were thus able to determine a typical day for each of the children, based on this screen time.
A study that assesses children two years after
To realize the impact of this screen time, the scientists subjected the children, two years later, to a tool called “Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia” (“Kiddie Program for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia“). The goal is to determine the presence of OCD in these young people.
The authors found that each additional hour of total screen time was linked to a higher likelihood of having an OCD diagnosis after two years. Specifically, hours spent watching videos and playing video games are most strongly linked to this effect. “Children may be unable to control or reduce their screen use. They may lose interest in other activities. Screen use preoccupies their thoughts” note the scientists.
Limit screen time
According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Jason Nagata, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, “every hour spent playing video games per day increased a child’s chance of developing OCD by 15%” and “each additional hour per day spent watching videos, such as on YouTube, also increased the odds by 11%“.
While the finding sounds worrisome, experts say parents can help their children by setting boundaries and adopting good habits. Dr. Nagata suggests that parents regularly talk with their children about their use of screen time and develop limits on its use, such as excluding it before bedtime or during meals.