Kia Reddan, Alina Morawska and Amy E. Mitchell
Background Excessive screen use is associated with poorer physical and psychological health and quality of life for children and adolescents. However, little is known about screen use in early childhood, and parents’ perspectives on barriers to developing healthy screen use habits with young children remain largely unexamined. This study explored the barriers experienced by Australian parents in establishing healthy habits around screen use with their 0–4-year-old children.
Methods A sample of parents (n=419) participated in an Australia-wide online survey examining adherence to child health recommendations around screen use. Respondents completed a series of Likert-scale and open-ended items exploring different aspects of their young children’s day-to-day screen use. Statistical and qualitative analyses examined children’s day-to-day screen use and parents’ perceived barriers to establishing healthy screen use habits with children.
Findings Adherence to national recommendations around children’s screen use varied across age and by target behaviour. Most children exceeded screen time guidelines. Thematic analysis revealed four main themes representing barriers to establishing healthy screen use habits: (i) parenting practices which encourage screen use, which included two sub-themes – (a) using screens to keep children occupied and (b) high use of screens by parents themselves; (ii) parents struggling to set screen use limits; (iii) difficult child behaviour when limits are imposed; and (iv) influences outside the home.
Conclusions Parents identify parenting practices and child behaviour difficulties and key barriers to healthy screen use. Future intervention development should target these modifiable factors to support the development of healthy screen use habits with young children.
