Screen time and language delay in children: A cross-sectional study in a Southeast Asian country

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

Background: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study aimed to ascertain the: (1) prevalence of excessive screen device usage among children with speech and/or language delay, (2) age of first introduction of screen device(s), and (3) association between children’s total screen time and media parenting practices. Methods: 62 children aged 1-5 years who were referred for speech and/or language delay were recruited from a general paediatrics clinic. Data on children’s total screen time, age of exposure to screen device(s), parents’ total screen time and media parenting practices were collected. Results: 56 children (90.3) had excessive screen time. There was a high prevalence of excessive screen time with early exposure to screen devices. A significant positive relationship was found between parents’ and children’s screen time (p=0.010). Children’s screen time was negatively associated with parental encouragement of non-screen activities (p=0.006) and positively associated with parental reduction of screen time as punishment (p=0.015). Conclusions: Parents should model good screen time practices and create opportunities for non-screen based alternative activities within the home environment. Usage of screen time as a means of regulating behaviour should be discouraged. © 2022, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Article, Child, Child parent relation, Cross-sectional study, Encouragement, Female, Hearing impairment, Home environment, Human, Language delay, Major clinical study, Male, Questionnaire

Publication Title

Journal of Health and Translational Medicine

Divisions

paediatrics

Funders

None

Volume

25

Issue

2

Publisher

University of Malaya Medical Centre

Additional Information

Cited by: 0

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