Screen time

Background: Excessive screen use is the main concern Australian parents have about the health and behaviours of their young children. Purpose: To explore the perceptions of Australian parents of pre-school children of their child’s use of screens, and their views of current national screen use guidelines. Methods: Parents from regional and urban areas in Queensland, Australia participated in semi-structured one-to-one interviews. Guide questions included perceptions of current use and feelings about ‘screen time’; current guidelines; and strategies for managing screen use. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed using an inductive approach. Results: Across 23 parents (17 mothers and 6 fathers) aged 27-53 years, screen use in young children was thought to be influenced by educational, structural, and parental factors. Parents identified strategies to manage screen use for their children, including being proactive, creating routines and choices, and setting rules and expectations. Multiple purposes of screens were identified, such as education, with some concerns raised in finding the balance alongside known risks of excessive use. Parents had mixed views regarding screen use guidelines and felt that guidelines needed to fit into realistic family contexts. Several recommendations were made pertaining to guidelines, such as improving translation through multiple pathways and adding suggestions for alternative activities. Conclusions: Screen use in young children was identified as source of concern and frustration for parents. Tailoring screen use guidelines to family contexts and implementing varied translation initiatives might be important in supporting parents of young children. Practical Implications: This work has been used to develop a survey which will inform intervention development, including co-design methods. Funding: This study was supported by funding from Ipswich Hospital Foundation. SRG and GT are funded by the HWCRI which is co-funded by Health and Wellbeing Queensland and UQ. TKA, GK, SM are supported by the Manna Institute.

Background: Research shows that parenting practices are associated with physical activity (PA) and screen-time among children, but the differential effects between mothers and fathers remain unclear. Purpose: To synthesize the scientific literature comparing maternal and paternal parenting practices associated with PA and screen-time behaviors among 3-17-year-olds. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of quantitative cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental studies published in English from 2000-2021. The search encompassed 10 electronic databases, yielding 15 eligible articles. Study selection and extraction processes followed the PRISMA guidelines. Results: Fifteen papers examined associations between maternal and paternal parenting practices and child total PA (20%), light PA (7%), moderate and vigorous PA (40%), step count (13%), computer use (7%), TV watching (7%), and total screen-time (20%). The majority of studies focused on PA (87%) and a smaller proportion focused on screen-time (27%). The few consistent findings across PA studies highlighted that child PA is linked to greater parental support, modeling and co-participation in PA, whether implemented by both parents or solely by fathers. Conversely, in the screen-time context, significant associations were similarly observed between mothers and fathers, with restriction and monitoring predicting lower screen-time, and modeling unhealthy screen use predicting higher screen-time. Conclusions: These findings suggest distinct parental roles in influencing child PA, but similar influences with respect to screen-time. These results should be interpreted with caution as there is a relatively small number of studies that have compared mothers and fathers, and parenting practices are operationalized differently across studies. Practical implications: This review illustrates opportunities for further research and highlights the critical role of involving fathers in the development and implementation of familial interventions designed to encourage active behaviors in children. Funding: MSHRBC (ODJG); BCCHRI (LCM); USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, BCM (SOH, TMO).

Background: Exposure to screen time and its associations with health and development have been widely investigated in early childhood. However, little is known about how parental use of technology during parent-child interactions, referred to as parental technoference (PT), may influence children’s health and developmental outcomes. Purpose: To systematically review and synthesise current literature on associations between PT and 1) 24-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour/screen time and sleep), 2) motor skills, 3) cognitive development and 4) psychosocial health in children aged under five years. Methods: The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023418164). Eight electronic databases were searched from inception to December 2023. Inclusion criteria were: 1) quantitative study published in a peer-reviewed journal; 2) PT during interactions with apparently healthy children aged from birth to <5 years; 3) examined an association with children’s 24-hour movement behaviours, cognitive, psychosocial, or motor development. Risk of bias was assessed using JBI’s critical appraisal tools. Results: Twenty-six studies (7102 participants from 12 countries) were eligible for inclusion. The majority of included studies reported associations of PT with psychosocial health outcomes (n=20) while a few reported associations with screen time (n=6) and cognitive skills (n=5). No study examined associations with motor skills. There was variability in the findings; however, a negative impact of PT on children’s cognitive outcomes, screen time, emotions and affectivity was observed. Conclusions: Most studies focused on PT’s impact on children’s psychosocial health, indicating a tendency for PT to trigger specific negative emotions in the early years. The findings underscore the need for further research with larger samples and encompassing additional health and developmental outcomes. Practical implications: Given the ubiquity of technological devices, it would be pertinent to highlight the importance of parental awareness regarding the potential impact of technoference on their children. Funding: Chilean National Scholarship Program for Graduate Studies.

Background: Rising screen time among children contributes to global physical inactivity and health issues. Purpose: this study aims to explore the associations between early-life screen time, executive function and mental health in middle childhood. Methods: This study included 1193 children (49.1% boys) from the Dutch GECKO Drenthe birth cohort. Parents reported TV and computer time at age 3-4 and 10-11. EF was assessed at age 10-11 using the BRIEF questionnaire, and mental health at age 5-6 and 10-11 using the SDQ questionnaire. Analysis included Spearman’s correlation and multiple linear regression, adjusting for BMI, outdoor playtime, and maternal education. Results: Increased TV time at age 3-4 correlated with increased TV time at age 10-11 (p<0.001), while greater computer time at age 3-4 was linked to increased computer time at age 10-11 (p=0.022). TV time was not related with EF. However, more daily computer time at age 10-11 was associated with higher scores in total EF (b=1.41, 0.54 to 2.3), behavioral regulation index (b=1.15, 0.30 to 1.99), and metacognition index (b=1.50, 0.62 to 2.4) in girls, not in boys, indicating worse EF. No such associations were found with computer time at age 3-4. For mental health, more computer time at age 10-11 was associated with poorer prosocial behaviors (r=-0.13, p=0.009) in boys, and more emotional problems (r=0.11, p=0.023) in girls. Conclusions: Children who spent more time in TV and computer tend to continue this pattern into middle childhood. While TV and computer time at age 3-4 were not associated with EF in school-aged children, girls with more computer time at age 10-11 showed poorer EF. Boys with more computer time at age 10-11 might display poorer prosocial behavior, while girls may have emotional problems. Practical implications: This study provides evidence for strategies to reduce screen time and promote physical activity.

Background: Screens are omnipresent and can have adverse effects on mental health. Outdoor physical activity (OPA) and group physical activity (GPA) have numerous benefits on mental health. Whether they could buffer the screen time- mental health negative associations remain unknown. Purpose: To estimate the association between occupational and recreational ST and positive mental health (PMH) in adults, and test whether GPA or OPA moderates this association. Methods: Data from the longitudinal NDIT Study are used (n = 623, mean (SD) age = 35.2 (0.6) yrs). The mean amount of hours/day of ST was measured for occupational and recreational contexts. PMH was measured six months later using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form. The monthly frequency of GPA and OPA was measured using a 6-point Likert scale. Multivariable linear regressions were estimated adjusting for sex, age, education level, and PA volume; moderation was investigated by adding an interaction term (ST*GPA or ST*OPA). Stratified analyses were then conducted to compare frequent and infrequent OPA and GPA subgroups. Results: Adjusted models suggest a negative association for occupational ST (B[95%CI] = -0.3[-0.6, -0.0]) and recreational ST (-1.1[-1.6, -0.7]) and PMH. Adjusted stratified analyses show a lower negative association between occupational ST and PMH in the frequent OPA group (-0.1[-0.5; 0.2]) compared to the infrequent OPA group (-0.6[-1.2; -0.0]). In the context of occupational ST, similar findings were observed for GPA. A similar pattern of results also occurred for recreational ST. Conclusion: The results suggest a negative association between different contexts of ST and PMH in adults. Frequent OPA and GPA could moderate these associations. Practical implications: The moderating effect of GPA and OPA provides a promising avenue for intervention. Further investigations using longitudinal study designs with larger samples are needed. Funding : Réseau de recherche en santé des populations du Québec.

Background: Evidence suggests that exposure to behaviors and risk factors since childhood critically contributes to the onset of many negative health outcomes in adulthood. Purpose: Describe demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors associated with physical activity (PA) and screen devices among Brazilian Quilombola schoolchildren. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of 979 students from 2nd to 5th grade in Feira de Santana, Bahia (42.6% girls, Age: 9.4±1.52 years). PA and screen devices were reported in the online Web-CAAFE questionnaire. Demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental information were assessed by proxy report. Crude and adjusted Poisson regression models estimated the associations as Prevalence Ratio (PR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). The value of p<0.05 was adopted as a criterion for evaluating statistical significance. Results: There was a higher engagement of girls in screen use (PR=1.23; 95%CI 1.11-1.35) and in moderate PA (PR=1.52; 95%CI 1.31-1.76), however, lower in vigorous PA (PR=0.41; 95%CI 0.35-0.50). Obesity (PR=1.26; 95%CI 1.08-1.46), age group (10-12 years) (PR=1.26; 95%CI 1.45-1.39), and residing in Humildes (PR=1.27; 95%CI 1.10-1.47) were associated with screen use. Residents in Humildes also showed more vigorous PA (PR=1.15; 95%CI 1.14-2.07). Maternal elementary (PR=1.76; 95%CI 1.00-3.11) and high school education (PR=1.77; 95%CI 1.01-3.09) were associated with light PA among participants. Conclusions: Among Quilombola schoolchildren, PA and screen usage were associated with female gender, age group 10-12 years, obesity, maternal education, and residing in the district closest to the urban area. Practical implications: Restricting screen usage and increasing engagement in PA can be a strategy to improve the health of children and adolescents. Funding: The study received financial support by the Foundation for Research Support of the State of Bahia (FAPESB). Araujo LDMS and Schrann MMF were supported by the Higher Education Personnel Improvement Coordination (CAPES process No. 88887.703092/2022-00 and No. 88887.687171/2022-00 respectively).