Children's Media Research Articles

Media use and attitudes towards screens in children aged 36-72 months; a cross-sectional, descriptive study.

Introduction: The age at which children are introduced to media devices is becoming increasingly earlier. Studies regarding the media habits of young children have gained importance. The aim of the study was to describe the screen media habits (age of introduction media, time spend with screen, popular choices) of preschool children and to explore their relationship with household characteristics. Population and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study; the parents of children aged 36-72 months who attended childcare centers in Kayseri, a central Anatolian city in Türkiye, completed a questionnaire on media habits of families and children. Results: There were 858 questionaires included. The proportion of children using screen media more than 2 h/day was 28%; 36% of children were introduced to media devices before the age of two. The most frequently used media tool was television (95%) and the program watched was cartoons for TV (86.7%). Children of highly educated parents had shorter TV, computer and smartphone screen time (p = 0.012, p = 0.007, p <0.01 for mother and p = 0.049, p = 0.032, p = 0.04 for father respectively). Introducing books in the first 6 months was associated with shorter daily screen time (p = 0.011, p = 0.009, p = 0.002 for TV, computer and smartphone ,respectively). Parent's time spent on TV was positively correlated with children's time spent on TV (p <0.05, r = 0.354). Conclusion: Parents' education levels, parents' screen time and introducing book in early age was related to children's media habits. Comprehensive studies are needed to explain this relationship more clearly.

Current Status of Media Literacy Education for Children

Media literacy education originated in the 1930s in developed Western countries, emerging from the educational philosophies of British scholars and Danish workers. Since the latter half of the 20th century, media literacy education has gradually gained popularity in Europe, North America, Oceania, Latin America, and parts of Asia, becoming a new subject in teaching. In China, the introduction of media literacy education began relatively late. However, in the digital age, children are exposed to media at an increasingly younger age, and how they interpret, critique, and resist societal and cultural manipulation in new media environments, maintain cultural independence, and flexibly respond to various information impacts has become a topic of social concern. Under such social premises, how to cultivate children's media literacy in education, and what the contents and goals of media literacy education should be, have become focal points. Therefore, this paper discusses the objectives, current status, and methods of media literacy education.

Interplay between Children's Electronic Media Use and Prosocial Behavior: The Chain Mediating Role of Parent-Child Closeness and Emotion Regulation.

In the contemporary digital milieu, children's pervasive engagement with electronic media is ubiquitous in their daily lives, presenting complex implications for their socialization. Prosocial behavior, a cornerstone of social interaction and child development, is intricately intertwined with these digital experiences. This relation gains further depth, considering the significant roles of parent-child relationships and emotion regulation in shaping children's social trajectories. This study surveyed 701 families to examine the association between children's electronic media use and prosocial behavior, specifically exploring the mediating roles of parent-child closeness and emotion regulation. Structural equation modeling was employed for the analysis. Children's electronic media use negatively correlated with prosocial behavior, parent-child closeness, and emotion regulation. In contrast, a positive association emerged between parent-child closeness, emotion regulation, and prosocial behavior. Emotion regulation also correlated positively with prosocial behavior. Statistical analyses revealed that parent-child closeness and emotion regulation function as both individual and sequential mediators in the relation between electronic media use and prosocial behavior. The study's analyses reveal that fostering children's prosocial behavior in the digital era requires strong family ties, effective emotional management, and balanced digital exposure, which are pivotal for their comprehensive development.

Effects of Food Depictions in Entertainment Media on Children's Unhealthy Food Preferences: Content Analysis Linked With Panel Data.

Entertainment media content is often mentioned as one of the roots of children's unhealthy food consumption. This might be due to the high quantity of unhealthy foods presented in children's media environments. However, less is known about the role of the centrality of food placement, that is, whether foods are interacted with, consumed, verbally mentioned, or appear unobtrusively. We also lack longitudinal research measuring both children's unhealthy and healthy food consumption behaviors as outcomes. The aim is to connect content analytical data based on children's actual media diet with panel data in order to explain children's food preferences. Moreover, this study not only focuses on the amount of healthy and unhealthy foods children are exposed to, but also on how these foods are presented (ie, centrally or not). Furthermore, we looked at the question of how parental coviewing can diminish (or enhance) the effects of unhealthy (or healthy) food depictions, and we measured healthy and unhealthy consumption as dependent variables. We conducted a 2-wave panel study with children and one of their parents (of 2250 parents contacted, 829 responded, for a response rate of 36.84%; 648 valid cases, ie, parent-child pairs, were used for analysis), with 6 months between the 2 panel waves. We linked the 2-wave panel data for the children and their parents to content analytical data for movies (n=113) and TV series (n=134; 3 randomly chosen episodes per TV series were used) that children were exposed to over the course of 6 months. There was no significant relationship between exposure to unhealthy food presentation and unhealthy (b=0.008; P=.07) or healthy (b=-0.003; P=.57) food consumption over time. Also, healthy food presentation was unrelated to unhealthy (b=0.009; P=.18) or healthy (b=0.000; P=.99) food consumption over time. However, there was a significant, positive interaction between unhealthy food presentation and presentation centrality on unhealthy food consumption (b=0.000; P=.03), suggesting that the effects of unhealthy food presentation rise with increasing levels of centrality. There was no interaction between unhealthy food presentation and presentation centrality on the consumption of healthy foods (b=0.000; P=.10). Also, exposure to healthy food presentation interacted with centrality (b=-0.001; P=.003). That is, when a healthy product was presented at maximum centrality, it led to less unhealthy food consumption in children. Coviewing did not interact with exposure to unhealthy foods when explaining unhealthy (b=0.003; P=.08) or healthy (b=-0.001; P=.70) food consumption. We conclude that simply presenting more healthy foods is not sufficient to combat children's unhealthy food preferences. Further regulations may be necessary with respect to representations of unhealthy foods in children's media.

Second opinions: Do otolaryngologist demographics matter?

ObjectivePediatric patients and their caregivers may receive information from their primary care physician (PCP) that does not match current American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO) guidelines. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of parents deciding to seek a second opinion based on the demographics of pediatric otolaryngologists who deliver guideline supported advice, contrary to advice from their child's PCP. MethodsA survey was distributed to parents in a pediatric otolaryngology clinic between June 2021 and July 2023. Demographics included parent age category, gender, race, and age of youngest child. The survey included a scenario depicting recurrent otitis media with clear ears and a suggestion to defer tympanostomy tube insertion per AAO guidelines after their child's PCP recommended tubes. Thirteen variations of otolaryngologist photos were used in the case, including a control case with no picture. ResultsOf the 658 participants, 460 (69.9 %) were female. 551 (83.7 %) were aged 30–49 years, 70 (10.7 %) were younger, and 37 (5.6 %) were older. 545 (82.8 %) were White, 30 (4.6 %) were Black, 20 (3.0 %) were Asian, and 31 (4.7 %) were Hispanic. 39.9 % of parents would seek a second opinion if an otolaryngologist recommended watchful waiting following evaluation of their child's otitis media. Participants given the control case were 2.23 times more likely to listen to the otolaryngologist's advice (p = .025). If a picture was provided, respondents were more likely to follow advice given if the pictured otolaryngologist was female (p = .025, OR = 1.47) or Asian (p = .042, OR = 1.53). ConclusionIn this group, there is evidence that physician race and gender may influence decision making when considering action versus monitoring in the context of recurrent otitis media.

Identifying children's environmental health risks, needs, misconceptions, and opportunities for research translation using social media.

As part of the Advancing Science, Practice, Programming, and Policy in Research Translation for Children's Environmental Health (ASP3IRE) center, machine learning, geographic information systems (GIS), and natural language processing to analyze more than 650 million posts related to children's environmental health are being used. Using preliminary analyses as examples, this commentary discusses the potential opportunities, benefits, challenges, and limitations of children's health social media analytics. Social media contains large volumes of contextually rich data that describe children's health risks and needs, characteristics of homes and childcare locations important to environmental exposures, and parent and childcare provider perceptions, awareness of, and misconceptions about children's environmental health. Twenty five million unique conversations mentioning children, with likes, views, and replies from more than 33 million X (formerly Twitter) users were identified. Many of these posts can be linked to traditional environmental and health data. However, social media analytics have several challenges and limitations. Challenges include a need for interdisciplinary collaborations, selectivity and sensitivity of analytical methods, the dynamic, evolving communication methods and platform preferences of social media users, and operational policies. Limitations include data availability, generalizability, and self-report bias. Social media analytics has significant potential to contribute to children's environmental health research and translation.

Association between the use of mobile touchscreen devices and the quality of parent-child interaction in preschoolers

The early use of mobile touchscreen devices (MTSDs), including smartphones and tablets, may reduce the frequency and quality of social interactions between children and parents, which could impact their relationship and have negative consequences on children's socio-cognitive development. In this study, we applied a parental questionnaire and a behavioral observational method in a laboratory setting (free and structured play sessions) to examine the association between preschool MTSD use and the quantity and quality of parent–child relationships. Our findings revealed that preschoolers who regularly use MTSDs (n = 47, aged 4–7 years, engaging in MTSD use for at least 2 h per week) are spending less time with their parents and exhibited lower quality interactions compared to non-users (n = 25). However, shared offline leisure time with parents serves as a protective factor among MTSD-users. Furthermore, our study demonstrated a positive association between parents' and children's media use. The results suggest that preschool MTSD use may have unfavorable effects on parent–child interactions, both in terms of quantity and quality. Alternatively, lower quantity and quality of parent–child interaction may lead to higher MTSD use in the child. Based on the results, the importance of engaging in sufficient offline family interactions besides digital media use should be emphasized to parents of preschoolers, and health organizations and governments should include this in their recommendations and policies concerning childhood digital media use.

The sociocultural context of adolescent pain: portrayals of pain in popular adolescent media.

Research has consistently suggested that media consumption plays a vital role in children's socialization, including the socialization of painful experiences. Past research examining young children's popular media revealed worrisome trends in media depictions of pain; it consisted of narrow depictions of pain, gender stereotypes, and an overwhelming lack of empathy from observers, which could contribute to pain-related stigma. Research has not yet examined how pain is portrayed in adolescent media, despite adolescence being the developmental period when chronic pain often emerges. The current study extracted a cross-section of popular adolescent media selected based on popularity, including 10 movies and the first seasons of 6 TV shows. Pain instances were coded using 2 established observational coding schemes assessing sufferer pain characteristics and observer responses. Across 616 instances of pain, there was a preponderance of violence and injuries, whereas everyday, chronic-type, and medical/procedural pains were seldom represented. Individuals from marginalized (ie, gender diverse, girls) and minoritized groups (individuals with racialized identities) were underrepresented in pain instances. Furthermore, regardless of observed gender or "race," observers displayed a lack of empathy for sufferers and rarely engaged in prosocial behaviors. Popular media may serve as an agent of socialization in adolescence; thus, pain depictions may be a powerful force in propagating pain-related stigma and inequities. An opportunity exists to harness popular media to adaptively and accurately portray pain to adolescents.

Sharenting Oleh Pasangan Selebritis di Indonesia: Studi Netnografi Pada Akun Instagram @ameenaatta

The presence of social media gave rise to a phenomenon called sharenting, namely the activity of sharing parenting or family life with the community. The culture of sharing cannot be separated from the influence of celebrities who share content related to their personal lives and that of their children. Parents' uploads may not necessarily get the consent of the child. In relation to sharenting activities, this study looks at how sharenting culture is carried out by a pair of celebrities towards their children to increase their celebrity capital. The results found that the practice of sharenting is carried out to instill identity with certain values of parents towards children on children's social media, so that children become an extension of the parents' hands to maintain existence and increase their celebrity capital.

Development and Validation of an Automated Classifier to Diagnose Acute Otitis Media in Children

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a frequently diagnosed illness in children, yet the accuracy of diagnosis has been consistently low. Multiple neural networks have been developed to recognize the presence of AOM with limited clinical application. To develop and internally validate an artificial intelligence decision-support tool to interpret videos of the tympanic membrane and enhance accuracy in the diagnosis of AOM. This diagnostic study analyzed otoscopic videos of the tympanic membrane captured using a smartphone during outpatient clinic visits at 2 sites in Pennsylvania between 2018 and 2023. Eligible participants included children who presented for sick visits or wellness visits. Otoscopic examination. Using the otoscopic videos that were annotated by validated otoscopists, a deep residual-recurrent neural network was trained to predict both features of the tympanic membrane and the diagnosis of AOM vs no AOM. The accuracy of this network was compared with a second network trained using a decision tree approach. A noise quality filter was also trained to prompt users that the video segment acquired may not be adequate for diagnostic purposes. Using 1151 videos from 635 children (majority younger than 3 years of age), the deep residual-recurrent neural network had almost identical diagnostic accuracy as the decision tree network. The finalized deep residual-recurrent neural network algorithm classified tympanic membrane videos into AOM vs no AOM categories with a sensitivity of 93.8% (95% CI, 92.6%-95.0%) and specificity of 93.5% (95% CI, 92.8%-94.3%) and the decision tree model had a sensitivity of 93.7% (95% CI, 92.4%-94.9%) and specificity of 93.3% (92.5%-94.1%). Of the tympanic membrane features outputted, bulging of the TM most closely aligned with the predicted diagnosis; bulging was present in 230 of 230 cases (100%) in which the diagnosis was predicted to be AOM in the test set. These findings suggest that given its high accuracy, the algorithm and medical-grade application that facilitates image acquisition and quality filtering could reasonably be used in primary care or acute care settings to aid with automated diagnosis of AOM and decisions regarding treatment.

Why Look at Toy Animals?

Abstract This article addresses the toy as a neglected cultural and technical object. The toy is neither tool nor ritual object, and its animation in children's imaginative play suggests alternative perspectives on the history and lived experience of material and technological artifacts. The concept of protopolitics is advanced to explore the implications for the cultural politics of the ambiguous articulation of power relationships in play. The article takes the long history of the toy animal as a case study, drawing attention to its creaturely, artificial facets that go beyond, or more accurately precede, familiar cultural-political binaries of authentic and inauthentic, depth and surface, knowledge and illusion, truth and lies, belief and fetishism, human and nonhuman, natural and synthetic. These other facets include dynamics of the technics of imagination, and their ambivalent articulation of relationships of control, training, care, violence, and love—a protopolitics evident in imaginative play. And, in postnatural media culture, the toy animal has migrated to digital habitats, offering an alternative animal perspective on questions of artificial intelligence. The child's toy and media environment is playfully zoomorphic, populated with artificial animals, from toys and stories to virtual pets and video-game characters, a new simulacral and postnatural trajectory in the descendance of the artificial animal and its playful and play-like behaviors.

The Impact Of Social Media On Social Behavior Children In The City Of Surabaya

The primary issue with this study is how much children who are thought to have a strong interest in character development and child protection use communication media. Children in Surabaya City may be perceived to be influenced by the information and knowledge that the media presents. Qualitative research is the kind that this is. Data is acquired through Three methods: documentation, interviews, and observation. Techniques for data analysis are documented, data is gathered, and analysis is done to give categories meaning. The Snowball Sampling Technique is used to choose and determine research subjects. The snowball sampling technique is a method for selecting and collecting samples within a network or relationship. In Surabaya, a study on children's social and communication media has led researchers to conclude that communication media is necessary for the community, regardless of social class. These days, finding communication media takes a lot of work. The extensive usage of communication media among children and teenagers in the community proves that communication media has also reached all age groups. It cannot be disputed because young people are particularly susceptible to falling prey to the adverse effects of media. Not only may using communication media have significant effects, but it can also have adverse effects that can influence users earlier than youngsters who are quick learners and highly curious. Children's performance can improve if they are given access to unfavorable, unreasonable, or inappropriate things for their age. In this instance, parents' involvement in the supervision process is crucial. Effective communication offers insight into children, obviating the need to do things to adolescents and children, as supportive parents are the primary institution in shaping a child's character, attitude, and behavior.

Evaluation of Screen Time in Children Under Five Years Old.

Due to the rapid advancement of technology, there has been a noteworthy increase in the diversity and abundance of activities involving children. The most effective methods to enhance and facilitate children's media interactions are to minimize, reduce, use with caution, and establish healthy patterns. We aimed to evaluate media exposure of children below five years of age. This is a prospective, observational, cross-sectional study that was conducted between December 2017 and September 2019 in Eskişehir, Türkiye. To assess the frequency of electronic device usage among children under the age of five, including televisions, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, as well as its impact on their sleep patterns and physical measurements, and to evaluate families' understanding of the terms "screen time" and "back screen time," we developed a questionnaire. We analyzed a total of 731 questionnaires: 334 (45.7%) were girls, 397 (54.3%) were boys, and the mean age was 33.55±16.37 months. Upon examining the technical equipment accessible to the children in our study, we found that 98.6% possessed a television, 96.9% owned a mobile phone, 54% had a laptop, 49.5% had a tablet, and 34.1% possessed a gaming console. The study revealed the following proportions of electronic devices in children's rooms: 13% televisions, 11.9% tablets, 7.4% laptops, and 7% mobile phones. There has been a substantial increase in the amount of time they spend watching television and playing computer games among children who have at least one sibling. There was a statistically significant disparity between the television viewing periods and the body mass index of children older than two years old. Additionally, we have seen a significant disparity in the presence of media devices in children's bedrooms and the subsequent impact on their sleep duration and patterns throughout both nighttime and daytime. Around 65.8% of parents did not know of the concept of screen time, while 88.4% of parents did not know of the concept of back screen time. Parental compliance with the current guidelines for screen time is insufficient, among parents with children under the age of five, even though exposure to screens begins in the first months of life. Our analysis highlighted the necessity for parents to establish and enforce a unified and logical media usage policy for all children residing in the household. It is crucial to allocate sufficient time during the routine healthcare visit to discuss these recommendations.

Penggunaan Media Sosial Instagram Sebagai Media Dakwah Mahasiswa Komunikasi Penyiaran Islam Uinsu

Social media is one of the information media that exists today, social media users come from various circles, from 9 year old children to adults, using social media requires vigilance, especially as parents, you must provide education to children, because through media Children can get positive sides from social media, such as interesting learning, but through social media there are also many negative sides, therefore there is a need for a high level of supervision over the use of social media. To make social media a medium that provides a positive side, there must be more content about da'wah, so in this research study Islamic broadcasting students create da'wah content through social media, how to spread their da'wah will be studied further in the discussion. The method used is literature and the type of research is qualitative. Based on the research results, the use of social media Instagram as a medium for Islamic broadcasting communication for students of Islamic broadcasting. Instagram social media is very influential for students of Islamic broadcasting communication, because Instagram social media can make preaching more interesting. And students can develop their existing talents and potential.

Pengaruh Media Sosial Terhadap Pemerolehan Bahasa Anak Usia SD

The aim of this research is to help children develop the language and communication skills necessary to survive in today's digital era. In the context of children's language acquisition social media has the potential to promote language continuity and support effective learning. This type of research uses a descriptive analytical approach to provide an in-depth and analytical picture of developments, views and findings in the related field of knowledge. The technique used in data collection is library research. This technique was chosen to explore a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the research topic, by utilizing scientific literature, journals and other library sources to synthesize and analyze existing information. Social media is an application that requires an internet network as a tool designed to facilitate social interaction and is interactive because it can be used to represent oneself, interact, collaborate, share, communicate with other users and form virtual social bonds. In this day and age, technology has become a part of every individual, in fact many of us depend heavily on technology and the internet, where there are many sites including social media. Therefore, it is very important for parents to supervise when their children start using social media, especially young children, because social media has not only positive impacts but also negative impacts. For this reason, we must have a solution so that all the negative things that happen can be overcome. The solution that we can do is to supervise children when playing on social media so that they can reduce children's habits of saying words that interfere with communication, carry out socialization with parents, set time limits for children playing with gadgets, provide educational games for children, and invite children to play together.

Clinical Outcomes Associated with Amoxicillin Treatment for Acute Otitis Media in Children.

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common reason children are prescribed antibiotics. Bacteria that produce beta-lactamase are an increasingly frequent cause of AOM and may be resistant to amoxicillin, the currently recommended treatment for AOM. We aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of children treated with amoxicillin for AOM and assessed whether outcomes vary by infecting pathogen or beta-lactamase production. 205 children 6-35 months old diagnosed with AOM and prescribed amoxicillin were included. Bacterial culture and qualitative multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed on nasopharyngeal swabs collected at enrollment. Parents completed surveys assessing symptoms, antibiotic adherence, and potential adverse events. The primary outcome was treatment failure with amoxicillin. Secondary outcomes included recurrence, symptom improvement, resolution, and adverse drug events (ADE). 8 children (5.4%) experienced treatment failure and 14 (6.8%) had recurrence. By day 5, 152 (74.1%) children had symptom improvement and 97 (47.3%) had resolution. Parents reported ADE for 56 (27.3%) children. Among 149 children who did not take any amoxicillin before enrollment, 98 (65.8%) had one or more beta-lactamase-producing bacteria. Common bacterial otopathogens were Moraxella catarrhalis (79, 53.0%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (51, 34.2%), Haemophilus influenzae (30, 20.1%), and Staphylococcus aureus (21, 14.1%). Treatment failure did not differ between children that did (5, 5.1%) and did not (3, 5.9%) have beta-lactamase-producing otopathogens (p = .05). Among children diagnosed with AOM treated with amoxicillin, treatment failure was uncommon and did not differ by pathogen or beta-lactamase production. These data support guidance recommending amoxicillin despite an increasing prevalence of beta-lactamase-producing bacteria.

Toddler's memory and media-Picture book reading and watching video content are associated with memory at 2years of age.

Memory develops across the course of the first years of life and is influenced by daily experiences, such as exposure to media like books and television. Memory as tapped by Deferred imitation (DI) requires that toddlers form a representation of the target actions that they can later use to reproduce the actions and in addition to measuring memory for real live events, it can also be used to measure memory for events viewed through media. Toddlers are frequently exposed to multiple forms of digital media in addition to more traditional forms of picture book reading. In a within-subjects design, memory was assessed with a DI task in 2-year-olds (n=89) using the Frankfurt Imitation Test. Deferred imitation was assessed after live and video demonstrations. Parents completed a survey about children's media use. Picture book reading for less than 30min a day predicted lower memory scores for actions demonstrated live. Watching video content for more than 1h a day predicted lower memory scores for actions demonstrated on video. Results are interpreted in terms of individual differences in experiences of traditional and digital media and the development of symbolic understanding.

Variability and patterns in children's media use and links with language development.

Media use is widespread and rising, but how often and for what purpose young children use media varies, which has differential impacts on development. Yet little work has measured how and why children under 36 months use digital media or media's consequences for language. The current study measures how and why 17- to 30-month-old children use digital media and associations with their language abilities. The amount of use, type of activity and caregiver reasons for children's media use were then compared to the child's vocabulary and mean length of utterance. About 17- to 30-month-old children are primarily exposed to TV/videos over other media forms, which are often used to occupy children. Video time (but not other activities) negatively predicts children's language. The negative impact of videos on vocabulary persists regardless of the reason for use, however, the effect of videos on expressive language may be tempered when videos are used for education or connecting. Children under 36 months are using digital media at high rates. What they are doing and why they use media is critical to predict the effect it might have on language development. Further research and anticipatory guidance on the consequences of videos are needed.

Screen time vs. scream time: Developmental interrelations between young children's screen time, negative affect, and effortful control

This study aimed to examine developmental relations of screen time, negative affect and effortful control in children aged 12–36 months. Parents of 462 children up to 3 years of age at the start of the study (M = 1.28 years, SD = 0.61; 50% female) participated in four assessments within 10 months. Parents reported their children's screen time, negative affect, and effortful control at each assessment in a diary study. Results of multivariate Bayesian multilevel growth modeling revealed correlations between growth parameters of (1) children's screen time and their negative affect and (2) children's negative affect and their effortful control but not between growth parameters of (3) children's screen time and their effortful control. Overall, these results indicate that children's screen time may be associated with their negative affect independently of their effortful control. Hence, we found no evidence of displacement in the development of self-regulatory strategies in children of parents with higher levels of education. Future research on this topic should focus on children's excessive screen media use, considering contextual and content-related screen media factors and other factors in the child's immediate and broader environment.

Watchful Waiting Strategy in the Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in Children

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common issue among children, often requiring antibiotic treatment. It is crucial to explore methods for the rational use of antibiotics. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the watchful waiting approach in treating children aged 6 months to 18 years with mild to moderate AOM. Methods: This prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 children with mild to moderate AOM. All patients, except those in severe or critical conditions, were placed on the watchful waiting strategy. A follow-up was conducted after 48 - 72 hours. If symptoms had improved, the watchful waiting approach continued. If medication was necessary for various reasons, these reasons were documented. Subsequently, children who completed the watchful waiting strategy were compared to those who received antibiotics. The collected data were analyzed using chi-square and t-tests in SPSS Statistics for Windows (version 16.0). Results: In this study, 59 patients (59%) were treated with the watchful waiting approach; nevertheless, 41 patients (41%) received antibiotics. The presence or absence of postnasal discharge showed a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.001). No significant differences were observed between the two groups regarding fever (P = 0.066), enlarged tonsils (P = 0.740), snoring (P = 0.252), and bilateral involvement of the tympanic membrane (P = 0.313). Conclusions: Based on the results, the watchful waiting strategy is a cost-effective method for children aged over 6 months with mild to moderate symptoms, provided that parents cooperate fully. Clinicians should be cautious and consider alternative treatments if postnasal discharge is present, as it might indicate a higher likelihood of treatment failure with the watchful waiting approach.