Are mobile phone ownership and age of acquisition associated with child adjustment? A 5-year prospective study among low-income Latinx children

Xiaoran Sun, K. Farish Haydel, Donna Matheson, Manisha Desai, Thomas N. Robinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This prospective, longitudinal study examined associations between whether and when children first acquire a mobile phone and their adjustment measures, among low-income Latinx children. Children (N = 263; 55% female; baseline Mage = 9.5) and their parents were assessed annually for 5 years from 2012. Children first acquired a mobile phone at a mean (SD) age of 11.62 (1.41) years. Pre-registered multilevel models tested associations linking phone ownership, phone acquisition age, and the interaction between ownership and acquisition age to levels and changing trends of depressive symptoms, school grades, and reported and objectively assessed sleep. Results showed no statistically significant associations, controlling the False Discovery Rate. Findings suggest an absence of meaningful links from mobile phone ownership and acquisition age to child adjustment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)303-314
Number of pages12
JournalChild development
Volume94
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number U01HL103629, and the Stanford Data Science Scholarship, Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute and the Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University. The content expressed in this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Government. We thank the Stanford GOALS research staff, including health educators, coaches, data collectors, community advisors, community partner organizations; and the children and families who participated in the Stanford GOALS trial. The data and code necessary to reproduce the analyses presented here are publicly accessible, as are the materials necessary to attempt to replicate the findings. Data, code, and materials are available from the first author upon reasonable request. Analyses were pre‐registered and are available at the following URL: https://osf.io/hukfd .

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number U01HL103629, and the Stanford Data Science Scholarship, Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute and the Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University. The content expressed in this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Government. We thank the Stanford GOALS research staff, including health educators, coaches, data collectors, community advisors, community partner organizations; and the children and families who participated in the Stanford GOALS trial. The data and code necessary to reproduce the analyses presented here are publicly accessible, as are the materials necessary to attempt to replicate the findings. Data, code, and materials are available from the first author upon reasonable request. Analyses were pre-registered and are available at the following URL: https://osf.io/hukfd.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

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