Predictors of parental barriers to reduce excessive child screen time among parents of under-five children in selangor, malaysia: Cross-sectional study

6Citations
Citations of this article
77Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Background: Globally, there is an increasing prevalence of excessive screen time exposure among young children, including in Malaysia. Parents are advised to limit this exposure, but there are barriers for many of them to follow this recommendation. To date, there is a lack of research on the factors that cause these parental barriers. Objective: This study aimed to determine the parental barrier toward the reduction of excessive child screen time and its predictors among parents of children aged younger than 5 years in the Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2019 to June 2020 among 789 parent-child dyads attending child health clinics in the Petaling District. Validated self-administered questionnaires were used to capture information on sociodemographic, parental, child-related, and environmental factors and parental barriers. Stratified sampling with probability proportionate to size was employed. Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 25 (IBM Corp). Descriptive analysis and bivariable analysis were performed before multiple linear regression was used to identify predictors of parental barriers. Results: The overall mean score of parental barriers was 3.51 (SD 0.83), indicating that the average numbers of barriers experienced by parents were more than 3. The multivariable analysis showed that the predictors of parental barriers included monthly household income (adjusted β=-.03, 95% CI -0.05 to -0.02), parents who worked in public sectors (adjusted β=.18, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.29), positive parental attitude on screens (adjusted β=.68, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.79), low parent self-efficacy to influence child's physical activity (adjusted β=-.32, 95% CI -0.43 to -0.20), and child screen time (adjusted β=.04, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.06). Conclusions: The strongest predictor of parental barriers to reduce excessive child screen time was the positive parental attitude on screen time which could contribute to their abilities to limit child screen time. Thus, future intervention strategies should aim to foster correct parental attitudes toward screen time activities among young children.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Mansor, E., Ahmad, N., Raj, D., Zulkefli, N. A. M., & Shariff, Z. M. (2021). Predictors of parental barriers to reduce excessive child screen time among parents of under-five children in selangor, malaysia: Cross-sectional study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(4). https://doi.org/10.2196/25219

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free