Parents, teens and screens during COVID-19 containment: An exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: One of the main concerns of parents is the amount of screen time of their teenagers, and most of them try to set rules about it. The objective of this exploratory study was to compare whether parents' rules changed during confinement and whether these changes were successful. METHODS: We studied a group of parents (N = 47) of 13-year-olds in Switzerland surveyed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Most parents (83%) indicated that screen-time rules for their teens had changed during containment, mainly to be less strict. Although only a minority of parents were successful in defining screen-time spaces or schedules for their teenagers, almost three out of four were successful when they encouraged non-screen-based activities. CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory study reveals that, during containment, parents decided to be less strict with their teens' screen-time use even though it remained their main worry. However, it also suggests that when activities non-involving screens are proposed, teens are likely to participate. These results seem to indicate that reducing screen time is not a matter of imposing restrictions but, rather, of proposing alternatives. Finally, further research is warranted to assess whether these changes in screen-time use are exceptional or here to stay.

Relationship between the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Well-Being of Adolescents and Their Parents in Switzerland.

This study is based on two waves of data collected by the Swiss Household panel, the first one in 2019, before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the second one in May-June 2020, just after the end of the partial lockdown that was decided by the Swiss government. We considered "couples" of adolescents (age 14-24, mean = 18.82, 51.96% female) and their parents living together (n = 431). Our main goal was to determine whether the evolution of the well-being among adolescents was similar to the evolution of the well-being among parents. Ten indicators of well-being were measured identically in both waves and for both adolescents and their parents. Results indicate that while almost all indicators of well-being decreased during partial lockdown for both adolescents and their parents, adolescents were more strongly impacted than their parents. Furthermore, the change observed in adolescents was virtually unaffected by the change observed in their parents, and vice versa. This research is a reminder that while different population groups may be affected differently by a sudden and extreme event, it is not only older people who will be most affected. Here, adolescents appear to have been more adversely affected than adults.