The association between screen time exposure, parent depression, and development of social communication skills among preschool children in Qassim Region

Background Screen exposure among children continues to increase worldwide. It has negative effects on children of developmental age, including obesity, poor attention, sleep disorders, vision problems, language delays, and deficits in communication skills. It has been reported that parental depressi...

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Published in:Middle East current psychiatry (Cairo) 2024-12, Vol.31 (1), p.51-6, Article 51
Main Authors: Alqifari, Abdullah, Albarrak, Raghad Ibrahim, Alrubaish, Yaqeen Fahad, Alawaji, Mayadah Assaf, Alkhalifah, Reghd Husain, Alqifari, Hana Nasser, Suleiman, Mohammed
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Caregivers
Chi-square test
Children & youth
Communication
Communications skills
Developmental skills
Hypothesis testing
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental depression
Neurodevelopment
Parents & parenting
Parents’ depression
Preschool children
Psychiatry
Psychopathology
Questionnaires
Screen time
Social skills
Statistical analysis
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Summary:Background Screen exposure among children continues to increase worldwide. It has negative effects on children of developmental age, including obesity, poor attention, sleep disorders, vision problems, language delays, and deficits in communication skills. It has been reported that parental depression is associated with both increased screen time for children and poor function and skills in children. However, other studies have reported no association between screen time and parental depression. Research methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample of 340 parents of 4- to 6-year-old children in the Qassim Region of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from the primary health care vaccination clinic by contacting parents of children aged 4 to 6 years to fill out the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) for the child and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9) for the parents. Research results We conducted a regression analysis to assess the influence of screen time exposure on social communication skills (SCQ score). The results of this study indicated that there was no significant effect observed ( B  = 0.283, P  > 0.05), indicating that a positive correlation between screen time usage and SCQ score may not apply to the entire population. Conversely, we discovered a crucial link between screen time exposure and parental depression (PHQ), as it displayed noteworthy impact values ( B  = 1.136, P  
ISSN:2090-5416
2090-5408
2090-5416
DOI:10.1186/s43045-024-00439-0