Association between screen time and psychological behaviors of preschool children in Lanzhou City / 中国儿童保健杂志

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To analyze the associations between different types of video screen time and psychological behaviors of preschool children, in order to provide evidence for promoting the development of children′s mental health. 【Methods】 From February to March 2023, a total of 1 361 parents of children aged 3 - 6 years from 6 kindergartens of Lanzhou were surveyed by cluster sampling method.Parents were surveyed to obtain information about the video use, and the children′s Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (parent version) was used to assess children′s psychological and behavioral problems. 【Results】 The rate of daily screen time exceeding standard was 36.96% (503/1 361).The screen time was mainly spent in watching TV cartoons, followed by educational APP.The detection rate of abnormal total difficulty score was 11.61% (158/1 361), and the abnormalities of peer communication (32.26%) and prosocial behavior (12.34%) were the most prominent.After adjusting for related factors by multiple Logistic regression analysis, total screen time≥2h/d (OR=1.802) was found to be a risk factor for abnormal total difficulty score; watching TV cartoons≥2h/d was a risk factor for abnormal total difficulty score (OR=2.409) and peer communication (OR=2.222); playing games≥1h/d was a risk factor for abnormal total difficulty score, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactive behavior, and abnormalities of peer communication, the differences were all statistically significant (P<0.05).However, educational APP screen time<1h/d was a protective factor for abnormal total difficulty score(OR=0.615) and prosocial behavior (OR=0.549), but educational APP screen time≥2h/d was a risk factor for conduct problems (OR=2.302), the differences were all statistically significant (P<0.05). 【Conclusions】 The screen time of preschool children in Lanzhou cannot be ignored, and there is a significant correlation between overuse and children′s psychological and behavioral problems.Parents and schools should attach importance to the parent-child and peer interaction of preschool children and strengthen the intervention of preschool children′s video behavior.