Screen Time as a Mechanism Through Which Cumulative Risk is Related to Child Socioemotional and Developmental Outcomes in Early Childhood

The Impact of Modifiable Parenting Factors on the Screen Use of Children Five Years or Younger: A Systematic Review

Most children under age 5 exceed recommended screen time guidelines, with lifelong implications for children's psychosocial, cognitive, socio-emotional, and physiological outcomes. Socio-ecological models point towards the important contribution of parental knowledge, modelling, practices, self-efficacy and style on child screen use. This study aimed to determine the extent to which these parenting factors influence child screen use, as well as the moderating role of screen media type (i.e. fixed vs. portable) on the relationship between parenting factors and child screen use. A systematic literature search for peer-reviewed studies published in English from 1982 to 2023 was conducted and yielded 87 eligible studies. Greater parental modelling, mealtime viewing, and the use of screens as a babysitting, mood regulation or reinforcement tool, were associated with higher child screen use. Contrastingly, higher levels of parental self-efficacy, and the implementation of screen use rules were associated with lower child screen use. Interventions targeting these parenting factors pose as a promising avenue to reduce child screen use. An authoritative parenting style was associated with lower child screen use, while authoritarian and permissive styles were associated with higher child screen use. The evidence for parental knowledge and co-viewing and, a neglectful parenting style was inconsistent or inconclusive. Finally, no observable trends or patterns in the data regarding the role of screen media type emerged. Future research should look to address issues in the measurement of child screen use to ensure comprehensive and objective assessments.

Language development in children's natural environments: People, places, and things

Our goal in this chapter is to describe young children's experiences with language by examining three domains-people, places, and things-that define and influence their language input. We highlight how features of each of these three domains could provide useful learning opportunities, as well as how differences in infants' and toddlers' experiences may affect their long-term language skills. However, we ultimately suggest that a full understanding of early environments must move beyond a focus on individual experiences and include the broader systems that shape young children's lives, including both tangible aspects of the environment, such as physical resources or locations, and more hidden factors, such as cultural considerations, community health, or economic constraints.

YouTube for young children: What are infants and toddlers watching on the most popular video-sharing app?

Background

Infants and toddlers engage with digital media about 1-3 hours per day with a growing proportion of time spent on YouTube.

Aim

Examined content of YouTube videos viewed by children 0-35.9 months of age and predictors of YouTube content characteristics.

Methods

We completed a secondary analysis of data from the 2020 Common Sense "YouTube and Kids" study. Parents were surveyed about demographics and YouTube viewing history. We developed a novel coding scheme to characterize educational quality and comprehension-aiding approaches (i.e., labels, pacing) in 426 videos watched by 47 children. Videos were previously coded for violence and consumerism. Bivariate analyses compared video-level predictors of higher quality educational content. Multivariable analyses examined child and family predictors of YouTube video content, adjusted for FDR.

Results

Only 19% of videos were age-appropriate, 27% were slow paced, 27% included physical violence, and 48% included consumerism. The game genre was associated with faster pace, more physical violence, more scariness, and more consumerism vs. all other videos. The informational genre was associated with more learning goals, slower pace, and less physical violence vs. all other videos. Child age 0-11.9 months vs. 24-35.9 months was associated with more age-inappropriate and violent content.

Conclusions

Physical violence and consumerism were prevalent among YouTube videos viewed by this sample, with infants being exposed to more age-inappropriate and violent content compared with toddlers. Caregivers may wish to select videos in the informational genre which tended to include more high-quality indicators and avoid gaming videos and monitor young infant video content.

The impact of a health promotion program on toddlers' socio-emotional development: a cluster randomized study

BACKGROUND

The first 3 years of life are a critical period for the development of socio-emotional skills, highlighting the importance of socio-emotional development in early childhood. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a health promotion intervention program on the socio-emotional development of children aged 12 to 42 months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A total of 344 children from 15 childcare centers participated in this study, with six centers in the intervention group and nine in the control group. Childcare teachers in the intervention group received a 6-month training program aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles, including topics such as diet, sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Sociodemographic and anthropometric measures were assessed at baseline, and socio-emotional development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - Third Edition (Bayley-III) at baseline and post-intervention.

RESULTS

After the intervention, a significant difference in socio-emotional development was observed between children with mothers of varying education levels. Specifically, children whose mothers had lower education levels demonstrated significantly greater socio-emotional development (B = 19.000, p = 0.028) compared to the control group. In contrast, there was no significant difference in socio-emotional development among children with mothers from higher education levels.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that intervention programs for childcare teachers can effectively promote healthy socio-emotional development in children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Future intervention programs should consider tailoring their approaches to target disadvantaged populations.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This cluster randomized controlled trial was registered in the Clinical Trials database/platform on 09/09/2019 (number NCT04082247).

Media screen time use and mental health in school aged children during the pandemic

BACKGROUND

Children's screen time activity has increased significantly during the pandemic. Extended school closures and heightened parent stress are associated with children's behavioural difficulties and time spent watching screens. The primary aim of this study was to determine which school and household factors were associated with challenging behaviours in Canadian schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This longitudinal survey study examined the association amongst screen time, internalizing and externalizing behaviours in school-aged children at two time points over the 2020-2021 academic school year. Parents completed survey measures on their parental involvement, stress levels, and their child's screen time use as well as their emotional and behavioural difficulties.

RESULTS

Children's average daily screen time was 4.40 h (SE = 18.45) at baseline and 3.89 h (SE = 16.70) at 1-year follow up, with no significant change across the school year (p = .316). Increased screen time use was associated with a greater incidence of internalizing behaviours in children (p = .03). Children who spent more time on screens and who were in households with parents reporting higher stress levels had increased internalizing behaviours (p < .001). No association between screen time use and externalizing behaviours was evident; however, parent stress was positively associated with children's externalizing behaviours (p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Children's screen time use has remained high during the pandemic and is associated with anxious and depressive symptoms. Children who spent more time on screens and who were in households with parents reporting higher stress levels had increased internalizing behaviours. Parent stress was positively associated with children's externalizing behaviours. Targeted family intervention plans focused on reducing parent stress and screen time use may aid in improving children's mental health during the ongoing pandemic.

Associations of active and passive smartphone use with measures of youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Smartphone use provides a significant amount of screen-time for youth, and there have been growing concerns regarding its impact on their mental health. While time spent in a passive manner on the device is frequently considered deleterious, more active engagement with the phone might be protective for mental health. Recent developments in mobile sensing technology provide a unique opportunity to examine behaviour in a naturalistic manner. The present study sought to investigate, in a sample of 451 individuals (mean age 20.97 years old, 83% female), whether the amount of time spent on the device, an indicator of passive smartphone use, would be associated with worse mental health in youth and whether an active form of smartphone use, namely frequent checking of the device, would be associated with better outcomes. The findings highlight that overall time spent on the smartphone was associated with more pronounced internalizing and externalizing symptoms in youth, while the number of unlocks was associated with fewer internalizing symptoms. For externalizing symptoms, there was also a significant interaction between the two types of smartphone use observed. Using objective measures, our results suggest interventions targeting passive smartphone use may contribute to improving the mental health of youth.

Outdoor Play as a Mitigating Factor in the Association Between Screen Time for Young Children and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes

Importance

Whether the association between higher screen time in infancy and later suboptimal neurodevelopment can be mitigated by frequency of outdoor play is unknown.

Objective

To investigate whether higher screen time at age 2 years is associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 4 years and whether this association is mediated by frequency of outdoor play at age 2 years 8 months.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Participants were a subsample of the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort Study for Mothers and Children (HBC Study, N = 1258). Children were born between December 2007 and March 2012 and followed up from 1 year 6 months to 4 years. The analysis was conducted from April 2021 to June 2022.

Exposures

Screen time longer than 1 hour a day at age 2 years was coded as higher screen time.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Standardized scores for communication, daily living skills, and socialization domains of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, second edition, at age 4 years were used (mean [SD], 100 [15]). The mediating factor was frequency of outdoor play at age 2 years 8 months, with 6 or 7 days per week coded as frequent outdoor play.

Results

Of 885 participants, 445 children (50%) were female; mean (SD) screen time per day was 2.6 (2.0) hours. Causal mediation analyses revealed that higher screen time at age 2 years was associated with lower scores in communication at age 4 years (nonstandardized coefficient b = -2.32; 95% CI, -4.03 to -0.60), but the association was not mediated by frequency of outdoor play. Higher screen time was also associated with lower scores in daily living skills (b = -1.76; 95% CI, -3.21 to -0.31); 18% of this association was mediated by frequency of outdoor play. Frequency of outdoor play was associated with socialization (b = 2.73; 95% CI, 1.06 to 4.39), whereas higher screen time was not (b = -1.34; 95% CI, -3.05 to 0.36).

Conclusions and Relevance

Higher screen time at age 2 years was directly associated with poorer communication at age 4 years. It was also associated with daily living skills, but frequency of outdoor play at age 2 years 8 months alleviated it, suggesting outdoor play mitigated the association between higher screen time and suboptimal neurodevelopment. Future research should specify the nature of the associations and intervention measures, enabling targeted interventions that reduce the potential risk in screen time.