Abstract
Screen time is increasing rapidly in young children. The aim of this study was to examine associations of long-term stress and temperament with screen time in Finnish preschool children and the moderating role of socioeconomic status. Cross-sectional DAGIS data were utilized. Long-term stress was assessed using hair cortisol concentration, indicating values of the past 2 months. Temperament was reported by the parents using the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (the Very Short Form), and three broad temperament dimensions were constructed: surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control. Screen time was reported by the parents over 7 days. The highest education level in the household was used as an indicator of socioeconomic status. In total, 779 children (mean age, 4.7 ± 0.9 years, 52% boys) were included in the study. Of the temperament dimensions, a higher effortful control was associated with less screen time (B = − 6.70, p = 0.002). There was no evidence for an association between hair cortisol concentration and screen time nor a moderating role of socioeconomic status in the associations (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Our findings indicate that preschool children with a higher score in effortful control had less screen time. Because effortful control reflects general self-regulatory abilities, promoting these skills may be effective in reducing screen time in young children.What is Known: • Screen time has increased rapidly during the last decades, and higher screen time has been linked with numerous adverse health consequences in children. • There are no previous studies investigating associations of long-term stress and temperament with screen time in young children.What is New: • Of the temperament dimensions, effortful control was associated with higher screen time in preschool children, but there was no association found between long-term stress and screen time. • Since effortful control reflects general self-regulatory abilities, promoting these skills may be effective in reducing screen time in young children.
Highlights
Screen time (ST), commonly divided as television (TV) viewing and the use of computers, mobile phones, or tablets, has increased rapidly since the 2000s [1]
Our findings indicate that preschool children with a higher score in effortful control had less screen time
Because effortful control reflects general self-regulatory abilities, promoting these skills may be effective in reducing screen time in young children
Summary
Screen time (ST), commonly divided as television (TV) viewing and the use of computers, mobile phones, or tablets, has increased rapidly since the 2000s [1]. In the UK in 2018, children aged 5 years had over 27 h a week of ST [4] This is concerning because a higher ST has been connected with adverse health consequences, such as obesity and depressive symptoms in children [5]. Young children are unreliable in reporting their symptoms; the stress hormone cortisol can be used as an indicator of stress [8]. A previous study in schoolaged children reported that increased stress levels, as assessed by questionnaires, are connected to children’s health behaviors, such as decreased physical activity and increased sedentary behavior [14]. Because watching TV has been found as one of the most frequently endorsed ways of coping with stress for school-aged children [15], there is a great need to study the association between long-term stress as assessed by HCC and ST in preschool children and fill the gap in the current literature
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