Child Media Use During COVID-19: Associations with Contextual and Social-Emotional Factors.
Tiffany Munzer, Chioma Torres, Sarah E Domoff and 4 others
PMID 36106745WHAT IT FOUND
Children spent about 4 hours daily on entertainment screen media outside schoolwork.
Mobile apps and games were linked to more behavioral difficulties, problematic media use, and shorter sleep, while video chat and streaming were linked to more prosocial behavior.
Key findings
01Children spent about 4 hours daily on entertainment screen media outside schoolwork.
02Remote schooling was associated with more console and computer game use, and material hardship was associated with more mobile app and game use and total screen media duration.
03Mobile apps and games were associated with higher total difficulties and problematic media use, while video chat and streaming video were associated with higher prosocial behaviors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a convenience sample of Michigan parents, so results may not generalize to other regions or families. It was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that media use caused sleep, behavioral, or social-emotional problems. Parents reported media use, and the study did not assess the content of what children watched or played. Total media duration may overestimate true use because children might use multiple forms of media at the same time. Child sex was omitted because of missing data, and race/ethnicity was dichotomized, which may not capture differences among minority groups.
Declared interests
The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research funding. No author conflict-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that screen media causes sleep or behavioral problems. The study is cross-sectional, did not measure media content, and total media duration may be overestimated because children can use several media types at once.