Digital Technology Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Relations to Sleep Quality and Life Satisfaction in Children and Parents

Abstract

This research aimed to examine digital technology (DT) use, sleep quality (SQ), and the correlations between these variables in children and parents, in Croatia during the lockdown. Furthermore, it aimed to determine parental life satisfaction (LS) and its relation to DT use. In an online questionnaire, 281 parents of children (3 to 14 years old) provided information about the duration of DT activities throughout the pandemic, compared to the time before the pandemic, the time spent using digital devices in a typical day, and SQ for themselves and their children, as well as the estimates of personal LS. The results show that the relationship between DT use and SQ during the lockdown differs between parents and children. More time spent using DT devices is not related to SQ in parents, and more time spent on smartphones is positively associated with parents' LS. In children, the prolonged use of smartphones for leisure is negatively linked to SQ. These results call for caution in allowing children longer screen time.