Dataset Information

Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods.

ABSTRACT: There is ample evidence that young children's screen media use has sharply increased since the outbreak of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the long-term impact of these changes on children's adjustment is currently unclear. The goals of the current study were to assess longitudinal trajectories of young children's screen media exposure through a series of national COVID-19 home lockdowns and to examine the predictive associations between different aspects of media exposure and post-lockdown behavioral adjustment. Data were collected at four timepoints during and after home lockdown periods in Israel. Longitudinal data measuring various aspects of media use, behavioral conduct and emotional problems were gathered from a sample of 313 Israeli children (54% females) between the ages two to five years (Mage at T1 = 3.6), by surveying their mothers at 5 points in time. Child overall screen time use, exposure to background television, use of media to regulate child distress and maternal mobile device use all changed throughout the lockdown periods. Moreover, during lockdowns children's behavior problems were concurrently and positively correlated with screen time, use of media to regulate child distress, and exposure to background television. However, these were not longitudinally related to child behavior problems in the post-lockdown period. Possible implications for family media use during a public health crisis are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Gueron-Sela N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9677335 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods.

Gueron-Sela Noa N Shalev Ido I Gordon-Hacker Avigail A Egotubov Alisa A Barr Rachel R

Computers in human behavior 20221121

There is ample evidence that young children's screen media use has sharply increased since the outbreak of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the long-term impact of these changes on children's adjustment is currently unclear. The goals of the current study were to assess longitudinal trajectories of young children's screen media exposure through a series of national COVID-19 home lockdowns and to examine the predictive associations between different aspects of media exposur ...[more]

PMID: 36438719

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Project description:BackgroundBoth excessive screen time and early screen exposure have been linked to children's health outcomes, but few studies considered these two exposures simultaneously. The aim of this study was to explore the independent and interactive associations of excessive screen time and early screen exposure with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and behavioral problems among Chinese children attending preschools.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 4985 children aged between 3 and 6 years was conducted in Chengdu, China. Each parent has finished an online questionnaire regarding their children's screen use, HRQOL, and behavioral problems. Children with screen time over 1 h/day were considered as having excessive screen time. Early screen exposure was defined if the children had started using screen-based media before the age of 2 years. HRQOL was assessed by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0), while behavioral problems were confirmed with the 48-item Conners' Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-48).ResultsOf the 4985 children (2593 boys and 2392 girls) included, the mean age was 4.6 (SD: 1.0) years. After adjustment for confounders and early screen exposure, excessive screen time was significantly associated with worse HRQOL scores in all dimensions and summary scales, as well as each type of behavioral problems (all p values < 0.05). We also found that compared to children with later initiation of screen exposure, those with screen use before the age of 2 years had significantly lower emotional functioning score (β: - 2.13, 95%CI: - 3.17, - 1.09) and psychosocial health summary score (β: - 0.82, 95%CI: - 1.54, - 0.10) of HRQOL, as well as higher risks of conduct problems, learning problems, psychosomatic problems, impulsive-hyperactive, and hyperactivity index, which were independent of excessive screen use. Furthermore, there were significant interactive effects of excessive screen time and early screen exposure on emotional functioning domain of HRQOL scores and conduct problems.ConclusionExcessive screen time and early screen exposure are two independent and interactive factors to children's HRQOL and behavioral problems. Our findings support current guidelines to limit screen exposure in children. Appropriate screen use may represent an important intervention target to improve children's HRQOL and reduce their behavioral problems.

Project description:BackgroundTo assess the prevalence of various media parenting practices and identify their associations with early adolescent screen time and problematic social media, video game, and mobile phone use.MethodsCross-sectional data from Year 3 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2019-2022) that included 10,048 adolescents (12-13 years, 48.3% female, 45.6% racial/ethnic minorities) in the US were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsParent screen use, family mealtime screen use, and bedroom screen use were associated with greater adolescent screen time and problematic social media, video game, and mobile phone use. Parental use of screens to control behavior (e.g., as a reward or punishment) was associated with higher screen time and greater problematic video game use. Parental monitoring of screens was associated with lower screen time and less problematic social media and mobile phone use. Parental limit setting of screens was associated with lower screen time and less problematic social media, video game, and mobile phone use.DiscussionParent screen use, mealtime screen use, and bedroom screen use were associated with higher adolescent problematic screen use and could be limited in a family media use plan. Parental monitoring and limiting of screen time are associated with less problematic screen use.Impact statementAlthough the American Academy of Pediatrics provides guidance for screen use for children 5-18 years, there is a paucity of evidence-based guidance for media parenting practices, specifically for early adolescents. In a diverse sample of 10,048 early adolescents across the US, we found cross-sectional associations between parent, mealtime, and bedroom screen use and higher adolescent problematic screen use. Parental monitoring and limiting of adolescent screen time were cross-sectionally associated with less problematic screen use in our analytic sample and may be incorporated into a family media use plan.

Project description:ObjectiveThis study characterized 3- to 6-year-old children's understanding of death as a function of depression status, suicidal ideation (SI), and media consumption.MethodParticipants were 79 children with depression (3.0-6.11 years old) who completed a comprehensive psychiatric assessment and experimenter-led death interview and a comparison group of 60 healthy children (4.0-7.12 years old). The interview assessed children's understanding of 5 concepts of death: universality, applicability, irreversibility, cessation, and causality. Children's mastery of each concept and overall understanding of death was examined as a function of depression and SI status: depressed with SI (n = 22), depressed without SI (n = 57), and healthy (n = 60). Children's observed emotional reactions to hearing about natural death, accidental death, and suicide were assessed by death-themed stories. Parent reports of children's television and videogames/internet consumption assessed links between media exposure and understanding of death.ResultsChildren with depression and SI scored higher on overall understanding of death than those with depression without SI and healthy children. They also exhibited more sad and anxious affect listening to death-themed stories and were more likely to describe death as caused by violence. Across this sample, older children also were more likely to depict death as violent. More television use was associated with less understanding of death, including the concept of irreversibility.ConclusionChildren with depression and SI have a more advanced understanding of death than their peers, dispelling the myth that these ideations arise in the context of a poor understanding of death. The increase in violence attributions across early childhood could indicate increasing normalization of violence in children's perceptions of death.Clinical trial registration informationA Randomized Controlled Trial of PCIT-ED for Preschool Depression; http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT00595283.

Project description:BackgroundExposure to surgery and anesthesia in early childhood has been found to be associated with an increased risk of behavioral deficits. While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against prenatal exposure to anesthetic drugs, little clinical evidence exists to support this recommendation. This study evaluates the association between prenatal exposure to general anesthesia due to maternal procedures during pregnancy and neuropsychological and behavioral outcome scores at age 10.MethodsThis is an observational cohort study of children born in Perth, Western Australia, with 2 generations of participants contributing data to the Raine Study. In the Raine Study, the first generation (Gen1) are mothers enrolled during pregnancy, and the second generation (Gen2) are the children born to these mothers from 1989 to 1992 with neuropsychological and behavioral tests at age 10 (n=2024). In the primary analysis, 6 neuropsychological and behavioral tests were evaluated at age 10: Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM), McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) with written and oral scores, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) with Expressive, Receptive, and Total language scores, and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) with Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total behavior scores. Outcome scores of children prenatally exposed to general anesthesia were compared to children without prenatal exposure using multivariable linear regression models adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates (sex, race, income, and maternal education, alcohol or tobacco use, and clinical diagnoses: diabetes, epilepsy, hypertension, psychiatric disorders, or thyroid dysfunction). Bonferroni adjustment was used for the 6 independent tests in the primary analysis, so a corrected P value <.0083 (P = .05 divided by 6 tests, or a 99.17% confidence interval [CI]) was required for statistical significance.ResultsAmong 2024 children with available outcome scores, 22 (1.1%) were prenatally exposed to general anesthesia. Prenatally exposed children had higher CBCL Externalizing behavioral scores (score difference of 6.1 [99.17% CI, 0.2-12.0]; P = .006) than unexposed children. Of 6 tests including 11 scores and subscores, only CBCL Externalizing behavioral scores remained significant after multiple comparisons adjustment with no significant differences found in any other score.ConclusionsPrenatal exposure to general anesthetics is associated with increased externalizing behavioral problems in childhood. However, given the limitations of this study and that avoiding necessary surgery during pregnancy can have significant detrimental effects on the mother and the child, further studies are needed before changes to clinical practice are made.

Dataset Information

Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods.

Publications

Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods.

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