Why Do Iranian Preschool-Aged Children Spend too Much Time in Front of Screens? A Preliminary Qualitative Study

Abstract

There is evidence that Iranian preschool children are increasingly spending their time in front of screens (screen time: ST; time spent with any screen such as TVs, computers, tablets, smartphones, game consoles, or video games), but few studies have explored the possible causes of such an increase. Given this, the present study aimed to qualitatively explore determinants of excessive ST in Iranian children. To this end, parents of preschool children were interviewed, and their answers were qualitatively clustered to identify additional important factors. Key informant interviews were conducted with parents of preschool children in Tehran (Iran). A semi-structured interview was developed to assess child and family life, daily routine, family rules, family interactions, and home climate as possible contributing factors to ST. Parents’ audiotaped statements were transcripted verbatim, coded, and clustered into main themes using thematic analysis with the MaxQda® software. A total of 20 parents of children aged 2 to 7 were interviewed, and a total of 6 key themes and 28 subthemes were extracted from their interviews. The results of the analysis identified a broad range of both independent and interrelated factors leading to the development and maintenance of ST behaviors among preschool children. Our findings indicate that the central concept is the family. Considering screen-related behaviors, family life encompasses parental health literacy (e.g., parenting pattern, monitoring standards, thoughtful parenting), family psychological atmosphere (e.g., presence of parents, family norms, parent–parent and parent–child interaction, congruency/incongruency of parents with each other) and the digital structure of the home. The child’s and parents’ actions and characteristics can influence family interactions. A child’s and parent’s behavior is also influenced by social/cultural factors. Parents’ behaviors and attitudes, family communications, and interactions contribute to healthy ST habits in children. It is not possible to examine the child’s behavior without considering the family and the dominant environment, since the behavior of family members as a whole affects each family member. Given this, interventions should make parents aware of their role and responsibilities in reducing children’s ST and consider the family system as a whole, and interventions also can benefit from considering the parental perceptions of children’s behaviors.

The impact of screen time on children’s well-being development: a scoping review

“…In 2021, the number of studies significantly increased to n=9 [19]- [27]. The number of studies remained consistent in 2022 with n=9 [28]- [36], and in 2023 with n=9 studies [37]- [45] respectively. The increase in the number of studies from 2019 to 2023 indicates that research on children's screen time continued to be a priority.…”

“…Four countries -Germany [19], [22], Malaysia [30], [44], Ireland [21], [34] and United Kingdom [12], [27] share a similar number of studies with n=2. Meanwhile, ten countries, namely Sri Lanka [31], France [32], Saudi Arabia [23], China [37], Australia [9], Portugal [35], Poland [13], Italy [25], Norway [14], Iran [45] and a combination of multiple European countries [16] recorded with one study each.…”

“…Meanwhile, n=6 studies used a mixed-method research design. This review indicates that the survey is the highest research approach used for collecting data on screen time behaviours with n=15 [12], [16]- [19], [22], [23], [25], [27], [30], [32], [34], [38], [40], [44], In addition, the cross-sectional study indicates n=8 studies [28], [29], [31], [23], [35], [24], [41], [26] and interviews with n=5 studies [20], [12], [23], [43], [45] respectively. Meanwhile, n=3 studies [14], [21], [37], were found to apply the longitudinal study and n=2 studies used the descriptive study [17], [36] respectively.…”

“…Four categories of aims were conducted on parents' perception of children's screen time. Studies aimed to look into the impact of screen time on children's emotional well-being indicate n=5 studies [14], [21], [25], [43], [45]. In addition, n=12 studies [12], [13], [15], [16], [20], [29], [27], [30], [33], [38], [41], [44], aimed to look into how screen time significantly affects children's physical well-being.…”

“…The review has identified three main aspects pertaining to the impact of screen time on children's well-being and development. There were n=10 studies [28], [19], [21], [37], [35], [24], [42], [14], [26], [36], [45] investigate how children's screen time affects their overall well-being development. On the other hand, there were n=11 studies [15], [20], [29], [30], [12], [23], [38], [16], [13], [41], [44], [27] focuses on how screen time influences children's behaviour.…”