Reducing harm and promoting positive media use strategies: new perspectives in understanding the impact of preschooler media use on health and development

Abstract Most children grow up in homes with easy access to multiple screens. Screen use by children between the ages of 0 to 5 has become a worldwide preoccupation. In the present narrative review, we examine child and parent screen use and its contribution to physical, cognitive, and social developmental outcomes. As research has mostly focused on the adverse consequences of screen media, we aim to depict both the negative and the positive influences of screen usage. To provide a more nuanced portrait of the potential benefits and harms of screen use, we examine how consequences of media use vary according to the content of media (ex., educational, violent), context (ex., using screens during mealtimes), and the nature (ex., passive vs active use) of child screen use. Our review supports existing screen time guidelines and recommendations and suggests that media content, the context of use, and the nature of child use, as well as the parent's own screen use, be considered clinically. Future research should seek to clarify how these dimensions jointly contribute to child screen use profiles and associated consequences. Finally, child sex, behavioral/temperamental difficulties, and family adversity appear to contribute to child screen use and its consequences and should be considered in future research. Suggestions for harm-reduction approaches are discussed.

Association of online screen media exposure and burnout among adolescent senior high school students enrolled in different online curricula in Metro Manila: An analytic cross-sectional study / The Health Sciences Journal

Introduction@#Due to COVID-19 pandemic, it became imperative for the education sector to shift to online curriculum and eventually hybrid education. However, this policy posed challenges to educators and students, such as increased workload, prolonged screen time, and burnout. This study determined the association of online screen media exposure and burnout among adolescent senior high school students enrolled in different online curricula in Metro Manila.@*Methods@#This analytic cross-sectional study identified adolescent senior high school students in Metro Manila who were recruited via non-probability convenience sampling. Online screen media exposure was assessed based on the cut off value of four (4) or more hours of device usage related to online schooling, and participants answered the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) to ascertain presence or absence of said condition. Data analysis included cross-tabulation for prevalence rate ratio (PRR), and Chi-square test for statistical significance.@*Results@#Of the 117 respondents, most had significant online screen media exposure (75.21%). For the CBI, 51 study subjects garnered a score of 50 and above, suggesting that 43.59% of the adolescents might be suffering from burnout. In addition, PRR was calculated to be 3.9 (p-value of .002).@*Conclusion@#Among adolescent senior high school students with significant online screen media exposure of four hours or more, there was 3.9 higher risk of exhibiting burnout symptoms, and this was statistically significant.

Screen Media Dependency and Its Associated Factors Among Preschool Children in Kuala Lumpur

@#Introduction: Excessive screen time among young children is associated with screen dependency. At this moment, there is a lack of data on screen dependency among young children in Malaysia. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of screen dependency and its associated factors among preschool children in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at registered preschools in Kuala Lumpur. 300 parents of preschool children aged 4 to 6 years old who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited via simple random sampling. The Screen Dependency Scale (SDS) were used to assess their dependency to screen media. Univariate and multivariate statistics were analysed using IBM SPSS version 27. Results: The prevalence of screen dependency among preschool children in Kuala Lumpur was 65.7%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that using the screen to resolve children’s quarrels (aOR 2.855, 95% CI 1.187 - 6.868), children who use smartphones (aOR 2.735, 95% CI: 1.244 - 6.013), children’s screen time exceeds 2 hours over the weekend (aOR 2.261, 95% CI: 1.058 - 4.830) and having a television in the bedroom (aOR 5.562, 95% CI: 1.591 - 19.442) were predictors for screen dependency. While active co-use mediation (aOR 0.505, 95% CI: 0.302 - 0.845) were protective. Conclusion: The prevalence of screen dependency was high among preschool children in Kuala Lumpur. Active screening at health care clinics or in schools is essential to identify early children with risk factors for screen dependency.

Tools to Assess Screen-related Dependency in Children: a Narrative Review of Validated Questionnaires

@#Children are using digital screen media at an even younger age as they use it for a wide range of activities such as watching videos, playing games, and educational purposes. Due to its accessibility and portability, children also spend a significant amount of time on screen. Excessive screen time in children is associated with many consequences, including language delay, hyperactivity, impulsivity, visual problems, and lower psychological well-being. With the emergence of behaviour addictions related to technologies such as addiction towards online games, the internet, and the mobile phone, researchers are looking into these incidences among children. However, a validated and reliable tool is important to detect the problem early, especially for young children at increased risk. To date, many tools have been developed to detect screen-related dependencies for adolescents and adults but lacking among children. This review aims to elicit tools available specifically for children below 10 years of age, to analyse its psychometric properties and validation process as well as to compare between them.

Asociación entre el tiempo de uso del ordenador y la actividad física en la adolescencia / Computer usage and its relationship with physical activity in youth

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar los patrones de comportamiento de una muestra de adolescentes en relación con su actividad física moderada-vigorosa (AFMV) y el uso que hacen del ordenador (jugar, comunicarse, estudiar y uso global) según el sexo, el nivel de participación deportiva y el tipo de día de la semana (entre semana y fin de semana) y averiguar si existen asociaciones entre ambas conductas. La muestra de estudio se compuso por 357 adolescentes de 15 a 18 años (183 chicas y 174 chicos) que fueron clasificados en ‘Deportistas’, ‘Activos’ e ‘Inactivos’ y a quienes se administraron cuestionarios de auto informe. Los resultados revelaron una mayor práctica de AFMV y un menor uso del ordenador entre semana que en fin de semana. Se observaron diferencias según el nivel de participación deportiva siendo los ‘Deportistas’ quienes más disminuían su práctica y más aumentaban su dedicación al ordenador para comunicarse en fin de semana. Tanto entre semana como en fin de semana, los chicos dedicaban más tiempo al ordenador para jugar mientras que las chicas les superaban en un uso comunicativo del mismo. Finalmente, se observaron mayores indicios de sustitución de la AFMV por el uso del ordenador para comunicarse y/o estudiar entre semana que en fin de semana, donde no se encontraron asociaciones significativas. A nivel global, se detecta una especial necesidad de incrementar la participación en AFMV de los jóvenes en fin de semana, donde las posibilidades de ocio para mantenerse físicamente activo/a se ven incrementadas.

The aim of this work was to analyse the behaviour patterns of an adolescent sample related with their moderate tovigorous physical activity (MVPA) and computer usage (playing, communicating, studying and overall) depending on sex, sport participation level and day of the week (weekday and weekend) and to find out if there were associations among these behaviours. The sample of the study was comprised by 357 adolescents aged 15 to 18 years-old (183 girls and 174 boys) which were classified in ‘Athletes”, ‘Actives’ and ‘Inactives’ to whom self-administered questionnaires were administered. Results showed a higher MVPA practice and a lower computer usage on weekdays than during weekends. Significant differences were observed according to the sport participation level being ‘Athletes’ who more diminished their practice and more increased the computer usage for communicating during weekends. As much weekdays as weekends, boys engaged more in computer for playing while girls leaded them in computer for communicating. Finally, major signs of displacing hypothesis were observed for computer use for communicating and/or studying on weekdays than during weekends, where significant associations were not found. Globally, a special need of increasing the youth participation in MVPA on weekends emerges, where leisure possibilities to keep physically active are greater.