Demographic, parental and home environment correlates of traditional and mobile screen time in preschool‐aged children

Abstract

Research on the correlates of screen time in young children, that could be targeted in future interventions to improve healthy development, has primarily focused on TV viewing with little consideration of mobile devices. The objectives of this study were to examine the associations between a range of demographic, parental, and home environment correlates and preschool-aged children's TV/video viewing, video/computer game playing, and total screen time across traditional and mobile devices. The results of this cross-sectional study are based on 106 preschool-aged children (3-5 years) and their parents recruited in 2018 in Edmonton, Alberta. Children's and parental demographic information, home characteristics, and information about parental and children's screen time use was measured using a parent questionnaire. Simple and multiple linear regression models were conducted. Each additional hour/day of parental screen time was associated with 12 (95%CI = 5.2, 19.8) minutes/day of children's TV/video, 6 (95%CI = 1.5, 11.0), minutes/day of video/computer game playing, and 19 (95%CI = 8.9, 29.2) minutes/day of total screen time. Additionally, significant associations of technology interference and presence of electronics in the bedroom with children's screen time were attenuated in the multiple regression models. Parental screen time appears important to target in future family-based screen time interventions and initiatives. Future studies should explore potential mediating or moderating variables between parental screen time and children's screen time.