Excessive screen time is associated with maternal rejection behaviours in pre-school children

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.

Which factors accompany maternal acceptance-rejection in children with specific learning disabilities?

BACKGROUND

Children with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) and their parents experience many problems that may influence their interactions. The study aimed to evaluate the maternal acceptance/rejection status of children with SLDs and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics, and problem behaviors.

METHODS

The Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire (PARQ/C) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were applied to the mothers with children aged 7-17 years with a diagnosis of SLD.

RESULTS

Among 266 children enrolled, the mean age was 10.2 years, and 61.7% were male, the mean score was 30.4 for warmth/affection, 25.8 for hostility/aggression, 22.9 for indifference/neglect, 16.3 for undifferentiated rejection, 95.4 for the total PARQ, and 40.8 for the control scales. Generalized linear models revealed that maternal depression, poor family income, parental smoking, and presence of dysgraphia, and poor total difficulties and prosocial scores of SDQ subscales were associated with the maternal acceptance-rejection. There was an interaction between the maternal control subscale and the school success of the child.

CONCLUSION

Mothers of children with SLDs had high maternal rejection scores which were associated with unfavorable characteristics of child and family. Early detection and giving appropriate support of these cases could improve the mother's relationship with her SLD child.

Impact of pregnancy-related anxiety on preschoolers' emotional and behavioral development: Gender specificity, critical time windows and cumulative effect

BACKGROUND

Studies on the gender-specific effect of PrA on children's emotional and behavioral development are limited. Lack of PrA data on the entire pregnancy had caused difficulties in identifying the key time window and cumulative effects.

METHODS

Based on Ma'anshan Birth Cohort in China, mothers at pregnancy and children followed up to 4 years of age were tested using the PrA questionnaire and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) 1.5-5. Finally, 1699 mother-child pairs were included in the study and regression models were developed for analysis.

RESULTS

Children of mothers with PrA are at significantly elevated risk for abnormal mood/behavior at preschool age. Girls seemed to be more sensitive to maternal PrA than boys, mainly manifested in internalizing problems; The third trimester of pregnancy might be a critical time window when maternal PrA affected children's internalizing problems; Longer the duration women had PrA during pregnancy, more possibilities their children would have to develop internalizing and externalizing problems.

LIMITATIONS

The PrA questionnaire may be different from PrA questionnaires in other countries such as due to different cultural contexts. Findings need to be interpreted with more caution. Factors such as maternal postpartum depression and care practices of nursing staff were not considered. No data were collected on disease as well as caregiver emotional status, which also impacts the reporting and identification of emotional/behavioral problems in children.

CONCLUSIONS

Gender-specific and cumulative effect of PrA on preschoolers' emotional/behavioral development is observed. The third trimester of pregnancy might be the critical time window.

Exposure to screen time and dental neglect

AIM

Dental neglect is the failure of parents to meet a child's basic oral health needs and causes complications. Long screen time, and its health impact, is an important public health issue. This study is aimed at determining whether there is a relationship between screen time of children and parents and dental neglect.

METHODS

Two hundred and fifteen patients were included in this cross-sectional observational study. A questionnaire including questions exploring demographic data, children's life-styles and, screen time of both parents and children. A dental neglect scale was administered to the parents. The children's intraoral examinations were evaluated using the decayed, missing, filled teeth (dmft) and pulp, ulcers, fistula, abscess (pufa) indices.

RESULTS

Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that dental neglect was statistically significantly associated with brushing teeth unsupervised and infrequently, frequent snacking, rarely doing exercise, screen exposure at an early age and presence of dental plaque (P < 0.05). Long screen time was statistically significantly associated with high dmft scores, reflecting poor oral health. It was found that children who did not attend daycare, had statistically significantly longer exposure to screens, compared to those who attended daycare.

CONCLUSIONS

Early exposure to screens and long-term screen use are associated with adverse outcomes pertaining to children's oral health.

Video game playing among preschoolers: prevalence and home environment in three provinces from Turkey

We aimed to investigate the video game habits and their relationship with home environment in children 2-5 years in Turkey. A structured questionnaire about the child's demographic, screen, and video gaming characteristics was completed by parents in five health centers from three provinces. One-quarter of 1245 preschoolers were found to play video games. The prevalence of playing video games was higher in older age, male gender, low parental education, families with 3 or more children, having a game console, computers and tablets at home, child's screen time of more than 2 hours per day, child's non-compliance with the parental screen rules, and presence of someone else playing videogame at home. Of the parents, 54.5% did not know the name of the video game the child was playing. Parents should be counseled about supervising on their children's video game playing habits and selection of well-designed games with the right content.

Beyond Screen Time: Exploring the Associations between Types of Smartphone Use Content and Adolescents’ Social Relationships

The past two decades have witnessed controversy over whether the use of digital technology has damaged or enhanced adolescents’ social relationships, which influences their development. In this study, we addressed this debate by specifying the effect of different types of smartphone use content on social relationships, rather than simply relying on screen time spent on digital media. To avoid selective analysis and report of different variables, we used specification curve analysis (SCA) in a large dataset (N = 46,018) to explore the correlations between 20 types of smartphone use content and adolescents’ social relationships (parent–child, peer, and teacher–student). The types of smartphone use content were measured by the revised version of Mobile Phone Use Pattern Scale, the Parent-Child Relationship Scale, the Peer Relationship Scale, and the Teacher-Student Relationship Scale assessed three different social relationships, respectively. Of the 20 types of smartphone use content, only playing games (negatively explaining 1% of the variation), taking online courses (positively explaining 1.6% of the variation), using search engines (positively explaining 1.2% of the variation), using a dictionary (positively explaining 1.3% of the variation), and obtaining life information (positively explaining 1.5% of the variation) showed a significant effect size. The association between smartphone use and adolescents’ social relationships depends on the various types of content with which adolescents engage during smartphone use. The various effects of different types of smartphone use content deserve the attention of both the public and policy-makers.

Strengths and difficulties in children with specific learning disabilities

BACKGROUND

The study aims to investigate the social, emotional, and behavioral challenges in children with a specific learning disability (SLD) and to identify the factors that accompany these problems by screening with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

METHODS

The descriptive study was conducted on 278 children with SLD. Strengths and difficulties in children were evaluated by the SDQ applied to their mothers. The percentage of cases above the cut-off limits of the SDQ was calculated. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used for analysis.

RESULTS

The mean (SD) total SDQ score was 15.8 (6.5). The percentage of scores of abnormal total difficulties in SLD was 47.8%. Multivariate analysis revealed that cases exposed to antenatal smoking had higher odds ratio of abnormal emotional symptoms and abnormal total difficulties; cases with poor familial income and the presence of a history of antenatal smoking exposure showed considerably higher odds ratio of conduct problems; cases with younger age at the diagnosis of SLD, dyscalculia, extreme duration of preschool screen time (≥4 h), and history of hospitalization had significantly higher odds ratio for hyperactivity-inattention problems; and cases having shorter breastfeeding duration had higher odds ratio of peer problems compared to counterparts.

CONCLUSION

Children with SLD have a high score on the SDQ. Practitioners could especially give guidance and support to families with financial problems and those having a child with an early age at diagnosis, exposure to antenatal smoking, short breastfeeding period, early age of the first screen use, and long screen exposure duration during the preschool period.

Measurement of screen time among young children aged 0-6 years: A systematic review

The impact of screen-based devices on children's health and development cannot be properly understood without valid and reliable tools that measure screen time within the evolving digital landscape. This review aimed to summarize characteristics of measurement tools used to assess screen time in young children; evaluate reporting of psychometric properties; and examine time trends related to measurement and reporting of screen time. A systematic review of articles published in English across three databases from January 2009 to April 2020 was undertaken using PROSPERO protocol (registration: CRD42019132599) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Included articles measured screen time as outcome, exposure, or confounder in children 0-6 years. The search identified 35,868 records, 1035 full-text articles were screened for eligibility, and 622 met inclusion criteria. Most measures (60%) consisted of one to three items and assessed duration of screen time on a usual day. Few measures assessed content (11%) or coviewing (7%). Only 40% of articles provided a citation for the measure, and only 69 (11%) reported psychometric properties-reliability n = 58, validity n = 19, reliability and validity n = 8. Between 2009 and 2019, the number of published articles increased from 28 to 71. From 2015, there was a notable increase in the proportion of articles published each year that assessed exposure to mobile devices in addition to television. The increasing number of published articles reflects increasing interest in screen time exposure among young children. Measures of screen time have generally evolved to reflect children's contemporary digital landscape; however, the psychometric properties of measurement tools are rarely reported. There is a need for improved measures and reporting to capture the complexity of children's screen time exposures.

Associations between parenting styles and excessive screen usage in preschool children

Objective

Young children and preschoolers are now growing up in settings filled with a variety of technological devices. Despite the recommendation that parents should limit screen time, many preschoolers are exposed to screens at very early ages and for a long time. This study aimed to investigate the associations between parenting styles and the excessive screen time of preschool-aged children.

Material and Methods

This cross-sectional descriptive study included preschool children with low screen exposure (<1 hour; n=176) and excessive screen exposure (>4 hours; n=74). A self-completion-structured survey form and Parent Attitude Scale were filled by the mothers.

Results

More than half (52.0%) of them were male children. Increased number of children, increased household sizes, mothers being unemployed, birth order ≥2, and home-based care were found to be statistically significantly higher in the excessive screen exposure group than in the low screen exposure group. Mothers and fathers in the excessive screen exposure group had lower educational levels compared with their counterparts in the low screen exposure group (p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that mothers' high authoritative (democratic) scores were associated with low screen exposure(adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.3; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-0.9). High overprotective and permissive parenting subscale scores were related to excessive screen exposure after adjusting potential confounders (AOR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.1-6.7; AOR: 4.5, 95% CI: 1.8-11.6).

Conclusion

Excessive screening time may indicate a problematic parent-child relationship. Establishing a positive parent-child relationship can be an effective way of managing screen time in preschool children.