The impact of different types of screen time on school-aged children’s quality of life and participation

Abstract

Introduction This study investigated the impact of different types of screen time on quality of life and participation in school-aged children. Method Twenty-nine typically developing children (mean age: 9.34 [Formula: see text] 1.37, range: 8–14 years) and 20 of their parents completed the Children Screen Time Use Report, the KIDSCREEN-52 and the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth. Spearman rho correlations and linear regressions with bootstrapping were used to assess associations between screen time, health-related quality of life and activity participation. Results Regression analysis identified that passive screen time was a significant predictor of various KIDSCREEN-52 domains: physical wellbeing ( b = −0.445, SE B = 0.008, p = .016), autonomy ( b = −0.445, SE B = 0.011, p = .016) and social acceptance ( b = 0.447, SE B = 0.007, p = .048). Educational, social and passive screen time were positively correlated with increased participation in home, community and school activities, respectively. Conclusion Findings suggest that passive screen time was mostly predictive of lower quality of life levels. However, passive, educational and social screen time positively correlate with participation in typically developing school-aged children. These findings assist occupational therapists to understand the impact of screen time on health and participation in children.

The relationship between typically developing school-age children’s screen time, participation and physical activity: An exploratory study

“…We asked parents to complete the CSTUR based on their observations of their child’s ST use while we asked child participants to report time spent in each ST category in hours and minutes. Based on a trial involving four parents and two occupational therapists who completed the report, the CSTUR exhibited reasonable face and content validity (Ye et al, 2021).…”

“…Children Screen Time Use Report. The Children Screen Time Use Report (CSTUR) was completed by both parents/ caregivers and child participants through Qualtrics (Ye et al, 2021). The purpose of the CSTUR was to record the child's average ST use on two typical weekdays and the two weekend days.…”