Children’s Self-Regulation and Health in the Context of Digital Technology Use

Dear Colleagues,

Self-regulation is generally defined as the internally directed capacity to regulate affect, attention, and behavior to respond effectively to both internal and environmental demands. Although self-regulation has a strong constitutional basis, it is also modifiable by various environmental factors in early childhood, the most sensitive period for the rapid development of self-regulation. A range of longitudinal studies have revealed the importance of children’s self-regulation skills in developing healthy behaviors (e.g., eating and sleep behaviors), and for successful functioning in academic and social settings.

Recently, digital media and screens have become ubiquitous in the lives of children, even young ones. Although some benefits of age-appropriate and high-quality educative screen time have been reported in previous studies, excessive screen time has been associated with a number of negative health outcomes, many of which may have direct and indirect relationships with children’s self-regulatory skills. There is still no clear consensus on whether and how screen-based media use may affect the development of children’s self-regulation.

For this Special Issue, we invite you to share research-based knowledge and discussions addressing (but not limiting to) the following main questions:

• What is the interplay of self-regulation, health-related behaviors and screen use in childhood and adolescence?
• Does and, if so, how could digital media use affect the development of self-regulation in children and adolescents?

Could self-regulation skills be a considerable mediator in the relationship between digital technology use and mental and physical health outcomes? 

Prof. Dr. Roma Jusienė
Dr. Rima Breidokienė
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• self-regulation
• screen time
• problematic screen-based media use
• children
• adolescents
• eating behaviors
• sleep
• physical activity
• mental health problems