Screen media and non-screen media habits among preschool children in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Finland: Insights from an unsupervised clustering approach

Abstract

The main purpose of the research was to describe the daily screen media habits and non-screen media habits like indoor and outdoor play, and sleep of preschool children aged 2 to 6 years from Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Finland using a content-validated online questionnaire (SMALLQ®) and unsupervised cluster analysis. Unsupervised cluster analysis on 5809 parent-reported weekday and weekend screen and non-screen media habits of preschool children from the four countries resulted in seven emergent clusters. Cluster 2 ( n = 1288) or the Early-screen media, screen media-lite and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity-lite family made up 22.2% and Cluster 1 ( n = 261) or the High-all-round activity and screen media-late family made up 4.5%, respectively represented the largest and smallest clusters among the seven clusters that were emergent from the pooled dataset. Finland was best represented by Cluster 2 and Japan was best represented by Cluster 3 ( High-screen media-for-entertainment and low-engagement family). Parents from Finland and Japan displayed greater homogeneity in terms of the screen media and non-screen media habits of preschool children than the parents from South Korea and Singapore. South Korea was best represented by Clusters 6 ( Screen media-physical activity-engagement hands-off family) and 7 ( Screen media-lite, screen media-late and high-physical activity family). Singapore was best represented by Clusters 4, 5, 6 and 7, and these clusters ranged from Low all-round activity-high nap time family to Screen media-lite, screen media-late and high-physical activity family. Future research should explore in-depth reasons for the across-country and within-country cluster characteristics of screen media and non-screen media habits among preschool children to allow for more targeted interventions.

The Association between 24 h Movement Guidelines and Internalising and Externalising Behaviour Problems among Chinese Preschool Children

“…Our findings align with studies conducted in other countries using the SDQ to measure the socio-emotional development of preschool children, which have reported an association between increased ST and externalising behavioural problems such as hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, conduct issues, and poor prosocial behaviour [52][53][54]. With the advancement of media technology and increased accessibility, high ST among children in Asia has been highlighted as a significant concern [55]. Our study's results revealed a favourable association between externalising behaviour problems in children when all three recommended activity guidelines were met.…”

Infant screen media and child development: A prospective community study

“…A recent study that examined preschool children's screen time across four countries (Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Finland) found that parents from different cultures had different views of screen use (entertainment, education, etc.) and that children and parents spent diverse time on screen and non‐screen activities (Chia et al., 2022). For example, Japanese parents predominantly perceived screen as a mean of entertainment, spent less time in parent–child activities, and, like their children, spent less time on non‐screen activities (Chia, et al., 2022).…”

“…and that children and parents spent diverse time on screen and non‐screen activities (Chia et al., 2022). For example, Japanese parents predominantly perceived screen as a mean of entertainment, spent less time in parent–child activities, and, like their children, spent less time on non‐screen activities (Chia, et al., 2022). Thus, further research on the intersectional effects of ethnicity, culture, and SES is needed to better understand early screen use.…”

Scoping Review: Overview of Gadget Use in Early Childhood COVID-19 Pandemic Period

“…Sementara itu, untuk anak dibawah usia 2 tahun belum diperbolehkan untuk menggunakan gadget. Namun hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa banyak anak usia dini yang menggunakan gadget melebihi batas yang disarankan terutama dari negara berkembang (Chia et al, 2022). Padahal apabila penggunaan gadget secara berlebihan ini terus berlanjut akan banyak dampak negatif yang muncul pada anak.…”

“…Screen media and non-screen media habits among preschool children in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Finland: Insights from an unsupervised clustering approach Chia et al (2022) Singapura, Korea Selatan, Jepang, dan Finlandia. 5809 orang tua yang memiliki anak berusia 2 -6 tahun.…”