Screen- Based Sedentary Behavior and Internalizing Symptoms Among Hispanic Adolescents

Introduction. Adolescent girls and boys show different patterns of health risk behaviors that are key targets for preventive interventions. For instance, compared to boys, girls show less physical activity, more sedentary behavior, and greater depressive and internalizing symptoms. This is concerning because research has found that these health indicators are inter-related and predict poor long-term outcomes, such as overweight and poor school functioning. There is comparatively less information about these risks among Hispanic youth, though some studies suggest that Hispanic girls show disparities in these risks. Better understanding how these health risks are related across time can inform preventive interventions and help address mental health disparities.

Method. Data for these analyses come from the control group of an effectiveness trial of the Familias Unidas preventive intervention (n = 370), which followed Hispanic eighth graders across 3 years. Linear growth models examined the relationship between the trajectories of screen-based sedentary (SBS) behavior (e.g., internet, television, mobile phone use) and internalizing symptoms from baseline, 6-month, 18-month and 36-month follow-up. Cross lagged panel analyses using Structural Equation Modeling then assessed the directionality of the relationship between SBS behavior and internalizing symptoms across the four time-points, analyzing potential gender differences.

Results and Conclusions. Results show that levels of SBS behavior and internalizing symptoms were significantly higher for girls than for boys across this developmental period. Within each time-point, SBS behaviors were significantly associated with internalizing symptoms for both genders. Trajectories of SBS behavior and internalizing symptoms across time were also significantly related to each other for both genders. Cross-lag panel analyses indicated that SBS behavior did not predict subsequent internalizing symptoms. However, among girls, internalizing symptoms at the 18-month follow-up predicted SBS behaviors at the 36-month follow-up. This corresponds to the critical high school years between ninth (approximately 13-14 years old) and eleventh grades (approximately 16 years old) when youth are becoming increasingly independent. The elevated SBS behaviors and internalizing symptom rates among girls suggest the need to screen and monitor these risks among Hispanic girls, particularly during high school. Results further indicate that internalizing symptoms should be a key target for preventive interventions in this population. Not only do internalizing symptoms raise the risk for poor, longer term mental health outcomes, but the relationship of internalizing symptoms to subsequent SBS behaviors can compound health risks, given research on the relationship between SBS behaviors and other outcomes, such as overweight and poor school functioning.