Beliefs and Barriers to Limiting Screentime Behaviors by Parents of Preschoolers

Abstract

To examine screentime behaviors and beliefs, barriers to limiting screentime, and methods for coping with barriers of parents of preschool children. Design, Setting and Participants: Parents of preschool children (2 to 5 years old) completed surveys (n¼133); a subset participated in focus group interviews (English-speakers¼16; Spanish-speakers¼14). Constant data comparison occurred concurrently with data collection to establish when data saturation was reached. Outcome Measures and Analysis: Three trained researchers independently conducted content analyses of data to identify themes and trends. Results: Parents reported their children spent 2.4AE1.7SD hours daily watching television, with no significant differences in this time occurring among parent education levels, language spoken, or parent age. Parents were divided on the importance of limiting screen time and unaware of recommendations for acceptable amounts. Parents reported they used television as a ''babysitter'' and to calm their children. Some felt children's television viewing needed to be monitored because TV is commercialized and can lead to ''unacceptable behavior,'' ''obesity,'' or ''bad habits'' as children imitate what they watch. Some parents believed that food/beverage advertisements could influence their children. Barriers to limiting television included lack of affordable alternate activities, convenience, inclement weather, parent fatigue, and desire to have time away from children to complete other activities. To overcome barriers to limiting screentime, parents found alternate activities for children, removed TVs from children's bedrooms, set daily routines/screentime limits, and set an example by not watching television themselves. Conclusions and Implications: Obesity prevention interventions should encourage parents to limit screentime and provide cost-effective alternative activities and convenient strategies for limiting children's screentime. Funding: USDA.

Predictors of Parental Barriers to Reduce Excessive Child Screen Time Among Parents of Under-Five Children in Selangor, Malaysia: Cross-sectional Study

“…Jarvis et al [45] explored barriers that were self-reported by parents through open-ended questions, whereas specific barriers were presented in a self-administered questionnaire to parents in this study. Common barriers encountered by parents in this study (ie, time needed for household chores, weather factor, and coping tools to meet the demand of a busy day) were consistent with previous research findings [23,24,27]. We have found it is a common occurrence among current generations of modern parents to provide screen devices to their young ones as an easy way out [27,46].…”

“…Several studies have demonstrated the role of parental influences on a child's screen time behavior [21,22]. However, it was also reported that parents could be facing various barriers in the efforts to reduce excessive child screen time [23][24][25][26]. Among these barriers were the lack of affordable alternative activities and poor accessibility to them secondary to weather conditions and transportation issues [23,24,26].…”

“…However, it was also reported that parents could be facing various barriers in the efforts to reduce excessive child screen time [23][24][25][26]. Among these barriers were the lack of affordable alternative activities and poor accessibility to them secondary to weather conditions and transportation issues [23,24,26]. Additionally, parental issues such as parental fatigue, time constraints, and a desire to have time away from children to complete personal tasks also hinder the participation of children in physical activities [24,25,27].…”

“…Among these barriers were the lack of affordable alternative activities and poor accessibility to them secondary to weather conditions and transportation issues [23,24,26]. Additionally, parental issues such as parental fatigue, time constraints, and a desire to have time away from children to complete personal tasks also hinder the participation of children in physical activities [24,25,27]. Available studies suggested it is vital to identify such barriers experienced by parents for the establishment of effective intervention in promoting healthy behaviors among children [28].…”

Not all babies are in the same boat: Exploring the effects of socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, and activities during the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic on early Executive Functions

“…These findings suggest that families from disadvantaged contexts may benefit most from public health information highlighting the possible detrimental effects of high screen exposure in infancy. However, it is important to consider the barriers that parents encounter to limiting television including inclement weather, need to have time away from children to complete other activities, parent fatigue, and lack of affordable alternate activities (Martin‐Biggers et al, 2015 ).…”