Risk factors, impacts, and parenting guidelines for screen media use in preschool children
Keywords:
development, parenting, preschool children, screen mediaAbstract
Objective: To review epidemiology, influencing factors, and impacts of screen media use in preschool children, and to propose parenting recommendations for managing screen media use in this age group.
Methods: This is non-systematic literature review on related articles, academic articles, study reports and medical facts, published in the Thai Citation Index (TCI), ResearchGate and Scopus databases.
Results: Over 80% of Thai preschool children used screen media, while most parents/caregivers had a moderate level of awareness and control over the children’s screen time. Factors influencing screen media use in preschool children included the child’s physiology, genetics, development, and temperament. For parents/caregivers, factors included knowledge, attitudes, stress, media use behaviors, and parenting styles. Inappropriate duration and/or content of screen media can affect preschool children on their physical health, social behaviors, mental and emotional well-being, learning, and cognitive development. Key parenting recommendations included monitoring the risks and impacts of screen media use, setting age-appropriate screen time and content, promoting interaction between parents/caregivers and children, establishing discipline for screen media use, and promoting child development.
Conclusion: The use of screen media among preschool children is increasing. Excessive and inappropriate screen media use can limit children’s opportunities to learn from their environment and interact with others, affecting their development in various areas. These effects may have long-term consequences on their learning and cognitive development.
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