The Role of Recreational Online Activities in School-Based Screen Time Sedentary Behaviour Interventions for Adolescents: A Systematic and Critical Literature Review

Abstract

Sedentary behaviours are highly associated with obesity and other important health outcomes in adolescence. This paper reviews screen time and its role within school-based behavioural interventions targeting adolescents between the years 2007 and 2019. A systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted across five major databases to identify interventions targeting screen time-in addition to TV/DVD viewing. The review identified a total of 30 papers analysing 15 studies across 16 countries aiming at addressing reduction of recreational screen time (internet use and gaming) in addition to television/DVD viewing. All of the interventions focused exclusively on behaviour change, targeting in the majority both reduction of sedentary behaviours along with strategies to increase physical activity levels. A mix of intervention effects were found in the reviewed studies. Findings suggest aiming only for reduction in time spent on screen-based behaviour within interventions could be a limited strategy in ameliorating excessive screen use, if not targeted, in parallel, with strategies to address other developmental, contextual and motivational factors that are key components in driving the occurrence and maintenance of adolescent online behaviours. Additionally, it raises the need for a differential treatment and assessment of each online activity within the interventions due to the heterogeneity of the construct of screen time. Recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of school-based sedentary behaviour interventions and implications for public policy are discussed.

Should We Pay for Our Social Media/Messenger Applications? Preliminary Data on the Acceptance of an Alternative to the Current Prevailing Data Business Model

“…Instead, a monetized subscription-based business model offering commercial-free and data protected social exchanges could potentially find greater support if social media operators and regulators went beyond safeguarding data protection and rights of minors, into encouraging a more socially responsible social media business model. Equally with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in other industries – i.e., the food and beverage industry, which has endorsed healthier eating habits or more environmentally friendly agricultural and trading conditions ( World Health Organization, 2004 ) – the greater promotion of user rights and representation, the reduction of poverty, social inequality, and greater access to media literacy, the prevention of sedentary lifestyles and obesity, radicalization, and the encouragement of social entrepreneurship could be just a few of the social media industry’s CSR initiatives for a healthier platform ecosystem ( Afridi and Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2011 ; Paus-Hasebrink et al, 2019 ; Throuvala et al, 2020 ).…”

Policy Recommendations for Preventing Problematic Internet Use in Schools: A Qualitative Study of Parental Perspectives

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Psychosocial Skills as a Protective Factor and Other Teacher Recommendations for Online Harms Prevention in Schools: A Qualitative Analysis

“…These impacts were viewed as needing to be addressed in media and mental health literacy (Kutcher et al, 2016) in line with recent policy changes in the United Kingdom supporting mental wellbeing in schools (Department for Education, 2020). Teacher perceptions expressed suggested that a supportive school environment with the collaboration of external mental health services were the pathways to primary prevention (Throuvala et al, 2019;Throuvala et al, 2020).…”

“…School-based prevention and mental health literacy (Throuvala et al, 2019;Throuvala et al, 2020) have been suggested as important ingredients in supporting students' beneficial use of social media and embrace the positive outcomes in terms of learning and engagement (Stathopoulou et al, 2019) while reducing problematic screen time involvement and smartphone use (Subhash and Cudney, 2018;Rach and Lounis, 2021). In China, which has the highest number of smartphone users (Newzoo.…”

“…Efforts to instil an appropriate mix of skills to enhance individual resilience and emotional readiness to engage online appear to be complemented by efforts in the school environments and policies to detract from prolonged online engagement as a default choice and spend leisure and break time by promoting physical activity and healthy eating (Story et al, 2009;Vik et al, 2015). Rising numbers in childhood obesity and other non-communicable diseases, require coordinated and collective efforts of many different stakeholders across multiple settings (Amarasinghe and D'Souza, 2012) to promote more active lifestyles and reduce screen-time sedentary behaviours (Throuvala et al, 2020).…”