Beyond screen use duration: the role of evening TV-timing on sleep in preschool-aged children

Sleep is a critical component of early childhood health, yet many preschool-aged children fail to obtain sufficient overnight sleep. Screen use contributes to insufficient sleep. However, most research thus far has focused on total screen time rather than the timing of screen exposure, which may be especially important for evening arousal, displacement of bedtime routines, and circadian regulation. The present study examined whether the delay between evening TV use and bedtime (“TV-to-bed delay”) and children's average daily TV use were associated with 24-h sleep duration in preschoolers. Parents of 137 typically developing 3–5-year-old children ( M age = 3.81 years, SD = 0.53; 52.6% female; 62.8% White; mid- to high-SES urban sample) provided reports of their child's typical TV-to-bed delay, average TV exposure, average nap duration, and 24-h sleep duration. Partial Spearman's rho correlations were used to examine associations between TV-use variables and 24-h sleep duration while controlling for child age, average daily TV use, and average nap duration. Longer TV-to-bed delays were significantly associated with longer 24-h sleep duration (ρ = 0.20, p = 0.02). In contrast, average daily TV use was not significantly associated with 24-h sleep duration after adjustment (ρ = −0.14, p = 0.11). These findings highlight the importance of considering timing as a meaningful dimension of media exposure and suggest that simple behavioral adjustments—such as creating a longer buffer between evening TV use and bedtime—may support healthier sleep in young children.