Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods

Gueron‐Sela, Noa; Shalev, Ido; Gordon-Hacker, Avigail; Egutobov, Alisa; Barr, Rachel

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107572

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…This finding is consistent with other recent studies [ 27 ], including a national survey [ 3 ] that found screen time among school-aged children increased by an average of 50 minutes during the early months of the pandemic. The finding of increased parenting technoference is consistent with a recently published study that found an increase in maternal use of mobile devices while parenting during the pandemic lockdowns [ 16 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

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Evidence for Changes in Screen Use in the United States During Early Childhood Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Parent Stressors: Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

Glassman,

Humphreys,

Jauregui

et al. 2024

JMIR Pediatr Parent

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the home lives of many families in the United States, especially those with young children. Understanding the relationship between child and parent screen time and family stressors exacerbated by the pandemic may help inform interventions that aim to support early child development. Objective We aim to assess the changing relationship between family screen time and factors related to pandemic-induced remote work and childcare or school closures. Methods In the spring of 2021 we administered a survey, similar to one administered in the spring of 2019, to a national sample of parents of young children (aged 6 to 60 months). Using iterative sampling with propensity scores, we recruited participants whose sociodemographic characteristics matched the 2019 survey. Participants were aged >18 years, proficient in English or Spanish, and residing in the United States. The main outcomes were changes in child screen time (eg, mobile phone, tablet, computer, and television) and parenting technoference, defined as perceived screen-related interference with parent-child interactions. Additional survey items reported pandemic-related job loss, and changes to work hours, work location, caregiving responsibilities, day care or school access, and family health and socioeconomic status. Results We enrolled 280 parents, from diverse backgrounds. Parents reported pandemic-related changes in child screen time (mean increase of 1.1, SD 0.9 hours), and greater parenting technoference (3.0 to 3.4 devices interfering per day; P=.01). Increased child screen time and parenting technoference were highest for parents experiencing job loss (mean change in child screen time 1.46, SD 1.03; mean parenting technoference score 3.89, SD 2.05), second highest for working parents who did not lose their job (mean change in child screen time 1.02, SD 0.83; mean parenting technoference score 3.37, SD 1.94), and lowest for nonworking parents (mean change in child screen time 0.68, SD 0.66; mean parenting technoference score 2.66, SD 1.70), with differences significant at P<.01. School closure and job loss were most associated with increased child screen time during the pandemic after controlling for other stressors and sociodemographic characteristics (d=0.52, P<.001; d=0.31, P=.01). Increased child screen time and school closure were most associated with increased parenting technoference (d=0.78, P<.001; d=0.30, P=.01). Conclusions Work and school changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with increased technology interference in the lives of young children. This study adds to our understanding of the interaction between technology use at home and social factors that are necessary to support early childhood health and development. It also supports possible enhanced recommendations for primary care providers and childcare educators to guide parents in establishing home-based “screen time rules” not only for their children but also for themselves.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…In particular, studies show that parent use of mobile devices interferes with their ability to respond to child cues and bids for attention [ 13 - 15 ]. This phenomenon was made even more complex during the pandemic when parent or child screen time increased for a variety of reasons [ 2 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Changes in Screen Use in the United States During Early Childhood Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Parent Stressors: Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

Glassman,

Humphreys,

Jauregui

et al. 2024

JMIR Pediatr Parent

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“…Work is also needed to identify more effective ways to address barriers. For example, children's screen media use increased significantly during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Eales et al., 2021; Gueron‐Sela et al., 2023; Madigan et al., 2022), even excluding screen media use for school, as caregiver stress increased and the availability of alternative activities for children decreased (Eales et al., 2021; Plamondon et al., 2023).…”

Section: Summary and Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting healthy screen use in children with externalizing behavior

Griffith,

Bagner,

Hart

2024

Child Dev Perspectives

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The sharp rise over the past decade in young children's access to various forms of screen media (e.g., smartphones, tablets, TVs) has posed new and significant challenges to caregivers in managing children's use of this type of media. For caregivers of young children with externalizing behavior problems, managing children's time with screen media is especially important and challenging. In this article, we summarize evidence of bidirectional links between early externalizing behavior problems and unhealthy screen media use in young children and discuss the extent to which prior interventions have responded to the needs of caregivers of children with these problems. We propose a conceptual model for an intervention to promote healthy screen media use for children with externalizing behavior problems that leverages current behavioral parenting interventions.

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic and its social consequences have widened digital device use and further lowered the age of those that access digital technologies, reinforcing a trend already underway in recent years [14][15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Devices Use and Fine Motor Skills in Children between 3–6 Years

Operto,

Viggiano,

Perfetto

et al. 2023

Children

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(1) Background: The principal aim of our research was to explore the relationship between digital devices use and fine motor skills in children aged three to six years and to explore the effect of some socio-demographic factors. (2) Methods: we enrolled 185 children aged between three to six years. The parents of all the participants fulfilled a questionnaire to explore the digital device use, and their children performed a standardized test to assess fine motor skills (APCM-2). We performed the Spearman correlation test to explore the relationship between different variables. (3) Results: the children spent an average of 3.08 ± 2.30 h/day on digital devices. We did not find a significant association between the time of use of digital devices and fine motor skills (p = 0.640; r = −0.036). The youngest children experienced digital tools earlier than older ones (p < 0.001; r = 0.424) and they were also the ones who used digital tools more time afterwards (p = 0.012; −0.202). The children who had working parents spent more time on digital devices (p = 0.028; r = 0.164/p = 0.037; r = 0.154) and used digital devices earlier (p = 0.023; r = 0.171). (4) Conclusions: This data suggest that it would be useful to monitor the use of digital tools, especially in the very first years of life. Future studies are needed to further explore this topic.

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Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods

Cited by 16 publications

References 61 publications

Evidence for Changes in Screen Use in the United States During Early Childhood Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Parent Stressors: Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

Evidence for Changes in Screen Use in the United States During Early Childhood Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Parent Stressors: Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

Promoting healthy screen use in children with externalizing behavior

Digital Devices Use and Fine Motor Skills in Children between 3–6 Years

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