title: Television, video game and social media use among children with ASD and typically developing siblings.
abstract: This study examined the nature of television, video game, and social media use in children (ages 8-18) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD, n = 202) compared to typically developing siblings (TD, n = 179), and relative to other activities. Parents completed measures assessing children's screen-based and other extracurricular activities. Children with ASD spent approximately 62% more time watching television and playing video games than in all non-screen activities combined. Compared with TD siblings, children with ASD spent more hours per day playing video games (2.4 vs. 1.6 for boys, and 1.8 vs. 0.8 for girls), and had higher levels of problematic video game use. In contrast, children with ASD spent little time using social media or socially interactive video games.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Psychology, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Missouri, 205 Portland Street, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. mazurekm@missouri.edu
authors.forename: Micah O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Mazurek
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wenstrup
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology / Q000600:supply & distribution