Sociodemographic and behavioural factors of adherence to the no-screen guideline for toddlers among parents from the French nationwide Elfe birth cohort

The Effect of Screen Habits and Alternative Activities on Tactile Exploration Skills in 6- to 36-Month-Old Toddlers

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

With the rising ubiquity of digital media and screens in everyday life, toddlers are increasingly exposed to different screens from an early age (i.e., television, computer, tablet, phone). However, few studies have examined the effect of these screens on toddlers' perceptual development. Since tactile exploration skills are necessary for environmental discovery and overall development, the current research investigates the links between screen-use habits and the tactile exploration skills (with visual control) of 6- to 36-month-old toddlers.

METHODS

The study involved observing the interactions of 135 toddlers with various objects and assessing the complexity of their visuo-tactile exploration strategies through two original experimental tasks. Data concerning screen habits and other relevant factors, such as socio-economic level, were collected using a parental questionnaire.

RESULTS

Toddlers with greater screen exposure time demonstrated weaker tactile exploration skills and employed less age-appropriate exploration strategies. Socio-economic factors and parental engagement in alternative activities significantly influenced these developmental outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings emphasize the importance of reducing screen time and promoting interactive co-viewing and alternative activities to mitigate the negative effects of screen exposure. Further longitudinal research is needed to determine the long-term impacts of early screen exposure on tactile exploration and overall psychological development.

Associations between screen viewing at 2 and 3.5 years and drawing ability at 3.5 years among children from the French nationwide Elfe birth cohort

The effect of screen viewing on children's cognitive development has been of concern among parents and researchers. This study investigated the association between children screen time, as reported by parents, and drawing ability, and the confounding effects of socioeconomic characteristics (such as parental education, household income, migration status) and children's competing activities (such as drawing practice, extracurricular activity, outdoor time, sleep time, time playing with parents). Participants included 7577 children aged 3.5 years (50% girls) who underwent the Draw-a-person test (McCarthy score [range = 0-12 points]) in the French nationwide Elfe birth cohort, initiated in 2011. Sex-stratified zero-inflated Poisson regression models were used. Increased screen time was associated with a higher likelihood to obtain a null score in boys (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.07-1.23) and girls (1.13 [1.03-1.24]) and a lower score in girls only (β =  - 0.02, 95% CI - 0.04; - 0.01). After adjusting for SES, associations were no longer observed, indicating that the association between screen time and drawing abilities was confounded by socioeconomic characteristics.

Managing Screen Use in the Under-Fives: Recommendations for Parenting Intervention Development

The impact of excessive screen use on children's health and development is a public health concern and many countries have published recommendations to limit and guide the use of screen media in childhood. Despite this, international studies report that the majority of parents and children do not adhere to screen use recommendations. Existing research aiming to understand children' screen use has largely focused on older children, and on demographic and structural aspects of the child's environment. Parents play a central role in determining young children's screen use and identify numerous barriers to developing healthy screen use practices with their children. However, no clear models exist that incorporate key parenting factors in understanding children's screen use, which presents an impediment to intervention development. Likewise, while some evidence exists for interventions to improve children's screen use behaviours, most are focused on older children and parental involvement has generally been limited. In this paper, we overview key factors associated with screen use in young children (< 5 years) and summarise the existing evidence base for interventions designed to support healthy screen use. This paper proposes a conceptual model linking aspects of parenting and the socio-ecological environment to young children's screen use. Our proposed model could be used to design longitudinal studies of screen use predictors and outcomes, and inform intervention development. Finally, the paper provides key recommendations for future research, intervention development and testing.

Screen time of toddlers in Paris suburbs: Quantitative and qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND

Our aim was to describe the exposure of French children aged 12-36 months to screens (time, content, age of first exposure) and to analyze different moderating factors: sociodemographic data, parents' screen time, and other factors (childcare arrangements, language spoken at home, book reading).

POPULATION AND METHODS

We conducted an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study based on 171 questionnaires from parents of children aged 12-36 months who consulted different hospitals in the Paris region during the summer of 2020.

RESULTS

The median screen time was 1 h per day and was essentially television time. The median age of first exposure for children was 12 months. Among the most-watched sites, YouTube was in first place. One third of the children chose the content they watched alone, and the majority did so without any parental guidance (66%). Children watched a screen during mealtime every day in 25% of cases, before bedtime in 12.3% of cases, and 8.8% had a screen in their bedroom. More than one third of families left the television on in the background most of the time. In the multivariate analysis, a high level of screen time was notably linked to the child's age, the parents' screen time, and background television. However, the parental reason for exposure "to calm the child" was the most strongly correlated factor with significant child screen time. Reading books appeared to be a determining factor for less screen exposure.

CONCLUSION

These results emphasize the importance of raising parents' awareness about the potential negative effects of screen exposure (particularly on children's cognitive and emotional development) as early as possible during the maternity period. Implementing this prevention in the maternity wards could be an effective way of informing and educating parents about the potential negative effects of screen time on their child's development.