Parenting to Reduce Child Screen Time: A Feasibility Pilot Study.

This was a feasibility pilot with only 39 randomized families, so it used effect sizes and did not have enough sample to conduct rigorous statistical tests or examine moderators such as child age. Dropout differed by group: 17 of 20 intervention parents and 15 of 19 waitlist parents completed the six-week post-assessment. The program developer delivered the intervention, so the high fidelity and outcomes may not generalize to other therapists or staff. The two screen-time measures were collected in different weeks, which limits conclusions about why diary and appraised screen time differed. Daily diaries were burdensome: a substantial minority failed to provide data across 30% of the days of data collection. Waitlist parents changed on technology-specific parenting and parent-appraised screen time without receiving the workshop. Repeated assessment or time may have influenced results. The sample was mostly mothers, mostly Caucasian, relatively well educated, and married; children were mostly male and averaged approximately 9 years of age, so results may not apply to other families. The paper notes the one-session workshop is likely most effective for parents with mild to moderate screen-time issues, and future work needs families with severe problems.

The supplied metadata indicates NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. The article text does not report author conflicts or whether the sponsor designed the study.

Do not read the medium effect sizes or 95% satisfaction as proof the workshop reduced child screen time. The study was a feasibility pilot, diary screen time did not change, and the waitlist group also changed on parent-appraised screen time without receiving the workshop.