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CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83(12): s00451813641
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1813641
Original Article

Impact of screen use on behavior and sleep in patients with autism spectrum disorder

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Funding The authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private or nonprofit sectors to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Background

The increasing screen time among the pediatric population is a detrimental factor for cognitive and psychosocial development, especially for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there are still many questions regarding its negative effects on behavior and sleep in this population group and, as of the writing of this study, there are no specific recommendations regarding screen use for children with ASD.

Objective

To synthesize and analyze the current evidence on the association between screen exposure time, behavioral symptoms, and sleep disorders in ASD children.

Methods

The authors provided a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist adapted review of studies that examined the association between screen time and both autistic symptoms and sleep disturbances in this patient population.

Results

Research indicates that excessive screen use among ASD children, particularly in preschool-aged children, may be associated with significant behavioral, emotional, and sleep quality impacts. The screen time recommendations set by the World Health Organization for the general pediatric population could also be applied to these children, at least until new studies can clarify specific guidelines, taking their particularities into account.

Conclusion

This review article explores the current evidence on the association between excessive screen time and both autistic symptoms and sleep disturbances in ASD, underscoring the relevance of further clinical investigation.

Keywords

Autistic Disorder - Cell Phone Use - Internet Use - Sleep Wake Disorders

Authors' Contributions

MESL and LMEL: conceptualization, methodology, and writing – review & editing; MESL and FESL: data curation and writing – original draft; MESL: formal analysis; LMEL: supervision.


Data Availability Statement

Data will be available upon request to the corresponding author.


Editor-in-Chief: Ayrton Roberto Massaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0487-5299).


Associate Editor: Fernando Morgadinho Santos Coelho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8482-3754).




Publication History

Received: 12 May 2025

Accepted: 22 September 2025

Article published online:
22 December 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Matheus Eugênio de Sousa Lima, Lívia Maria Eugênio Lopes, Fernanda Eugênio de Sousa Lima. Impact of screen use on behavior and sleep in patients with autism spectrum disorder. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83: s00451813641.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1813641