Abstract
BackgroundExcessive engagement in screen time has several immediate and long-term health implications among pre-school children. However, little is known about the factors that influence screen time in this age group. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use the Ecologic Model of Sedentary Behavior as a guide to examine associations between intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment factors within the home setting and screen time among pre-school children.MethodsParticipants were 746 pre-school children (≤ 5 years old) from the Kingston, Ontario, Canada area. From May to September, 2011, parents completed a questionnaire regarding several intrapersonal (child demographics), interpersonal (family demographics, parental cognitions, parental behavior), and physical environment (television, computer, or video games in the bedroom) factors within the home setting. Parents also reported the average amount of time per day their child spent watching television and playing video/computer games. Associations were examined using linear and logistic regression models.ResultsMost participants (93.7%) watched television and 37.9% played video/computer games. Several intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment factors within the home setting were associated with screen time. More specifically, age, parental attitudes, parental barriers, parental descriptive norms, parental screen time, and having a television in the bedroom were positive predictors of screen time; whereas, parental education, parental income, and parental self-efficacy were negative predictors of screen time in the linear regression analysis. Collectively these variables explained 64.2% of the variance in screen time. Parental cognitive factors (self-efficacy, attitudes, barriers, descriptive norms) at the interpersonal level explained a large portion (37.9%) of this variance.ConclusionsA large proportion of screen time in pre-school children was explained by factors within the home setting. Parental cognitive factors at the interpersonal level were of particular relevance. These findings suggest that interventions aiming to foster appropriate screen time habits in pre-school children may be most effective if they target parents for behavioral change.
Highlights
Excessive engagement in screen time has several immediate and long-term health implications among pre-school children
The questionnaire was to be completed by the parent most familiar with the child and if the parent had more than one child ≤5 years old, it was to be completed for the child with the birth date closest to January 1st or the oldest twin
While multiple levels of factors may influence preschool children’s screen time, the findings of the present study suggest that parental cognitive factors may be of particular relevance
Summary
Excessive engagement in screen time has several immediate and long-term health implications among pre-school children. The purpose of this study was to use the Ecologic Model of Sedentary Behavior as a guide to examine associations between intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment factors within the home setting and screen time among pre-school children. Consistent with other ecological models [15], this model postulates that sedentary behavior is influenced by factors at multiple levels including intrapersonal, interpersonal, physical environment, and policy factors [14] According to this model, these factors may differ depending on the setting where the sedentary behavior occurs [14]. The factors that influence sedentary behavior in pre-school children would likely be different in a home versus daycare setting They recommend setting-specific examinations of the multi-level factors that influence sedentary behavior. Since most or all screen time occurs at home for pre-school children [16], the home setting is important when examining the factors that influence screen time in this age group
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