Impacts of increased time of exposure to digital screens in childhood during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: identify the impacts of increased exposure time to digital screens in childhood during the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: it was performed a field, cross-sectional and quantitative research. It was used a questionnaire in Google Forms released via email, Instagram and WhatsApp, with approval by the Research Ethics Committee of the institution. The final sample was composed by 246 parents and caregivers who answered the submitted questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software using measures of relative (%) and absolute (N) frequency, descriptive tests of measures of central tendency (mean) and measures of dispersion (standard deviation). Inferential binary logistic regression tests (enter method) were performed to predict between the variables and Pearson's Chi-square of independence (2x2 and 2x4) for associations and prevalence calculations for each group. A statistical significance of p < 0.05 was adopted. Results: the interviewees reported that most of the children observed used the digital screens every day at week throughout the pandemic, with an average of 3 hours of daily use, starting at age three and the cell phone being the most frequent device used. A direct relationship was observed between longer exposure time and parental supervision in the use of digital technologies and greater daily use in children with 7 years of age or more. Final considerations: there was a significant increase in exposure time to digital screens in childhood during the Covid-19 pandemic, as most respondents reported that children used them daily, with a daily average of more than 3 hours. The impacts of this increased exposure time to digital screens in childhood during the Covid-19 pandemic involved impairments in brain functions, sleep, physical activity, social relationships and children's psychological well-being.