Baby on the web 3.0: why pre-school children in Poland abuse screen devices – a parent’s perspective. Information about the research project

Abstract

Preschool children in Poland use mobile screen devices contrary to the recommendations of paediatric societies and the WHO and most often in situations when parents need to perform other tasks, rest, when they lack energy to take care of their child or when they want to occupy a bored child with something (according to the results from the project “Baby on the Web 2.0” study). The aim of the project “baby on the Web 3.0” is an attempt to understand what mechanisms underlie this phenomenon. There are three hypotheses stated in the project: the first one assumes a lack of knowledge about recommendations; the second one assumes parental stress and the role screen devices play in reducing this stress and regenerating parental resources; and the third assumes the parents’ incorrect beliefs about the prevalence of a given phenomenon and its desirable nature. The study will be conducted on a sample of at least 1,000 parents of preschool children who use and do not use screen devices. The obtained results will allow to understand why parents do not follow the recommendations regarding the use of mobile screen devices by preschool children, and will also be used to develop recommendations in the area of health promotion and prevention.