Sociodemographic Correlates of Parental Co-Participation in Digital Media Use and Physical Play of Preschool-Age Children

Abstract

Young children’s digital media use and physical activity have gained attention in recent research. Parental co-participation has a major impact on children’s health consequences. This study addressed a gap in the research by investigating daily parental co-participation in children’s digital media use and physical play, using the family ecological model theoretical framework. The participants in this nationally representative cross-sectional study were 2512 Finnish parents with two- to six-year-old children. Parents completed a questionnaire. Sociodemographic correlates of co-participation and of the awareness of guidelines regarding co-participation and correlation between co-participation in digital media use and physical play were analysed. Parental co-participation in physical play and digital media use correlated positively. Lower parental age, male parental gender, Finnish and Swedish languages, a fewer number of children, and a male child gender were associated with more co-participation in one or both activities, and parental female gender and low family income were associated with more awareness. The awareness of guidelines was not associated with co-participation in digital media use. There were sociodemographic differences in parental co-participation. From a health counselling perspective, parents may benefit from national recommendations on digital media use and physical activity, but adherence to guidelines depends on the family context.

Screen media and non-screen media habits among preschool children in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Finland: Insights from an unsupervised clustering approach

“…Most of the parents sampled had at least a bachelor's degree and an annual household income of at least EUR 40,000. 24 …”

“…Most of the parents sampled had at least a bachelor's degree and an annual household income of at least EUR 40,000. 24 Japan. Three childcare facilities schools in Nishinomiya and five children centres in O ̄hira and Tomiya were participating sites for the study conducted in Japan.…”

Associations between Parents’ Digital Media Habits, Engagement, Awareness, and Movement Guidelines among Preschool-Age Children: International Ipreschooler Surveillance Study

“…Children’s PA and screen times are influenced by parents’ attitudes and beliefs, which can either hinder or facilitate children’s PA or screen times [ 44 ]. In one of our joint studies conducted in Finland, children’s PA and (digital media use) DMU were reported to be associated with parents’ participation, and the association strengthened with a decrease in the child’s age [ 24 ]. A literature review showed that parents’ PA and DME affect children’s health behaviors [ 21 ], and the importance of active parental participation increases further in the coming years with continued advances and access in digitalization.…”

“…This is a cross-sectional study, and data were obtained from the International Ipreschooler Surveillance Study Among Asians and OtheRs (IISSAAR) [ 24 , 27 ]. Using the classifications of city, town, and village from the 1947 Japanese Enforcement Decree of Statutes of Local Governments, which were based on (i) population, (ii) number of households, (iii) occupation, and (iv) city facilities, Nishinomiya was chosen for the urban region (population: 487,800, area: 99.96 km²) and Ōhira-mura (population: 5918, area: 60.32 km²) and Tomiya-shi (population: 52,430, area: 49.18 km²) constituted the rural region [ 25 ].…”

“…Unfortunately, such studies are lacking. Furthermore, parenting participation differs considerably depending on the living environment, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors between urban and rural dwelling households; therefore, it is also important to examine parents’ DM factors by rural and urban regions [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”