Predictors of screen exposure among infants under 2 years of age during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Contradicting pediatric societies’ recommendations, studies show that screen exposure begins at the first year of life for many children worldwide, with parental needs, educational purposes, and parental stress emerging as associated factors. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has likely worsened this scenario. This study aims to: 1) estimate the average daily screen exposure time for Brazilian infants aged 0–23 months during the COVID-19 pandemic based on caregiver report; 2) analyze the correlation between average exposure time, parental motivations for exposure, parental burnout levels and infant age; and 3) test the predictive role of parental motivations, burnout, and infant age on infant screen exposure. For this purpose, 139 parents (living in Brazil) answered online to questionnaires on infant screen exposure, parental motivations for exposure (four subscales: Parental Needs; Educational; Child’s Desires/Family Routine; Behavioral Control), and parental burnout (Total score; four subscales: Emotional Exhaustion; Contrast; Feelings of Being Fed Up; Emotional Distancing). On average, infants were exposed to screens for 131 min/day. Higher scores on the four parental motivation subscales and higher parental burnout (specifically the Contrast subscale) correlated with longer exposure times. Furthermore, the motivation subscales Parental Needs and Child's Desires/family routine, the burnout subscale Contrast and infant age predicted greater screen exposure, while the burnout scale Feelings of Being Fed Up predicted less exposure. Our results suggest that infants in Brazil were exposed to substantial amounts of screen time during the pandemic. Interventions aiming to reduce screen time must consider parental motivations and parental burnout/mental health along with infant age.