Parental modelling, media equipment and screen-viewing among young children: cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine whether parental screen-viewing, parental attitudes or access to media equipment were associated with the screen-viewing of 6-year-old to 8-year-old children.DesignCross-sectional survey.SettingOnline survey.Main outcomeParental report of the number of hours per weekday that they and, separately, their 6-year-old to 8-year-old child spent watching TV, using a games console, a smart-phone and multiscreen viewing. Parental screen-viewing, parental attitudes and pieces of media equipment were exposures.ResultsOver 75% of the parents and 62% of the children spent more than 2 h/weekday watching TV. Over two-thirds of the parents and almost 40% of the children spent more than an hour per day multiscreen viewing. The mean number of pieces of media equipment in the home was 5.9 items, with 1.3 items in the child's bedroom. Children who had parents who spent more than 2 h/day watching TV were over 7.8 times more likely to exceed the 2 h threshold. Girls and boys who had a parent who spent an hour or more multiscreen viewing were 34 times more likely to also spend more than an hour per day multiscreen viewing. Media equipment in the child's bedroom was associated with higher TV viewing, computer time and multiscreen viewing. Each increment in the parental agreement that watching TV was relaxing for their child was associated with a 49% increase in the likelihood that the child spent more than 2 h/day watching TV.ConclusionsChildren who have parents who engage in high levels of screen-viewing are more likely to engage in high levels of screen-viewing. Access to media equipment, particularly in the child's bedroom, was associated with higher levels of screen-viewing. Family-based strategies to reduce screen-viewing and limit media equipment access may be important ways to reduce child screen-viewing.

“If You Let Them, They Will Be on It 24 Hours a Day”: Qualitative Study Conducted in the United States Exploring Brazilian Immigrant Mothers’ Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Screen Time Behaviors of Their Preschool-Age Children (Preprint)

“…Moreover, many mothers participating in the present study reported lack of support from their husbands in their efforts to set up and enforce rules to limit ST. Previous studies suggest that mothers and fathers have different parental influences on their children's ST behaviors and both should be included in interventions [61][62][63]. Our findings, combined with that of prior research, suggest that future parenting interventions designed for Brazilian immigrant families should be family-focused and involve other family members, including fathers.…”

“…Previous research suggests that parental monitoring, especially maternal monitoring, of ST is associated with less ST for children [56,62]. Similarly, prior evidence suggests that setting limits and having ST rules is associated with children's ST [34,56,62,63]. Nevertheless, several mothers participating in this study acknowledged that it can be challenging to sustain and enforce parenting practices to manage their children's ST, especially given the availability of multiple screen devices in the house.…”

“…This is important as research shows that children have increased ST when parents have ST themselves [50,[61][62][63][64]. A qualitative study conducted in the U.K. found that children whose parents engaged in ST with them had more ST than children whose parents prioritized and engaged with them in non-SV behaviors for relaxation and family time [36].…”

Parents' role constructions for facilitating physical activity‐related behaviours in their young children

“…So you have to be active yourself'— F05 . Because several studies have found significant associations between parental modelling and child nutrition, physical activity, and screen time behaviours (Jago et al, ; Natale et al, ), it is likely that parents who are active and model healthy lifestyles choices will have children who make similar choices. Prior research has identified that parents engaging in physical activity in the presence of their children experience the barrier that they find it difficult to reach the workout intensity required for personal benefit, due to factors such as attending to the child (Hamilton & White, ).…”

“…While the responsibility to model physical activity, and be active with one's child, emerged as an important parental role, it was indicated that due to busy lifestyles and competing demands on parents' time, doing so is not always practical. Because parental modelling has been found to predict children's health behaviours (Jago et al, ; Natale et al, ), it is likely that interventions effective in promoting active lifestyles in parents (such as those identified by Hamilton & White, ) would have a subsequent effect of increasing physical activity‐related behaviours in their children. Promoting integrative activities (Hamilton & White, ), where parents can be active alongside their child, may be a particularly useful approach for promoting child physical activity‐related behaviours in a time‐efficient manner.…”