Risk of delinquency up 60pc with each hour’s screen time

EVERY hour children spend daily in front of a screen raises the risk of shoplifting and vandalism by more than 60 per cent, a study has found.

Youngsters who spend longer than average fastened to a screen are at greater risk of developing behavioural disorders, with social media having an especially strong link to conduct issues.

Watching videos and television, playing games and texting were linked with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), which can manifest as behaviours such as bullying, vandalism and stealing. People with ODD often display anger or irritable moods and show defiant behaviour and vindictiveness.

Researchers from University of California, San Francisco, examined links between types of screen time and behaviour in 11,875 children aged nine to 11 years old. They collected data on screen use and then evaluated children for behaviour disorders a year later.

Each hour of social media was linked with a 62 per cent higher prevalence of conduct disorder.

Dr Jason Nagata, writing in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, said social media platforms “can encourage bullying and aggression”, which “may contribute” to the development of conduct disorder in children.

He said children could be exposed to violent content othrough adverts “even if they are not searching for it”. Watching movies and playing video games might disrupt sleep and replace exercise, as well as reduce social support, which could explain the tie to ODD, he said.

The average amount of screen time was four hours a day but among children who accrued more screen time than that, there was a 69 per cent higher prevalence of conduct disorder and a 46 per cent higher prevalence of ODD.