“We are well into screen OVERLOAD!” Child Problematic Media use and Parent Psychological Distress During COVID-19

• In Event: Children’s Problematic Media Use and Mental Health Concerns During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic when media use has skyrocketed for sheer survival, parents have many more stressors at home (Prime et al., 2020). While increased media use can affect child mental health during the pandemic (Király et al., 2020), child’s problematic media use (e.g., difficulty stopping) may be related to parent psychological distress, especially considering other new challenges parents are juggling (e.g., managing distance learning, limited childcare). The aim of this mixed-methods study is to examine parent perceptions of child media use and how child problematic media use is related to parent psychological distress.

Hypotheses: We hypothesized that participants would have largely negative views and a host of concerns about their child’s media use (quantitative and qualitative). We also predicted child problematic media use would be associated with increased parental distress above and beyond parent and child daily COVID-19 impact and child screen media time (quantitative).

Sample: Our sample included 466 parents (456 mothers, 10 fathers; Mage = 38.22, SDage = 4.47, Rangeage = 25 – 52 years) of children (238 girls, 226 boys, 1 nonbinary, 1 “prefer not to answer”; Mage = 5.44, SDage = 2.40, Rangeage= 1.58 – 13 years), most living in the Twin Cities area (Minnesota, USA). Our sample was primarily White parents with White children (86.5%), with middle-/upper-tier incomes (average family income $125,000 - $149,999/year).

Methods: Parents completed an online survey during June, 2020 including measures of their child’s daily non-school-related screen media time and parent perceptions of media use (Rideout, 2017), problematic media use (Domoff et al., 2019), parent psychological distress (PHQ-4; Kroenke et al., 2009), and daily COVID-19 impact on parent and child separately (Harkness, 2020). Parents also responded in open-ended boxes about their perceptions of their child’s media use during the pandemic. We used hierarchical linear regression and thematic analysis is ongoing.

Results
Quantitative: Table 1 shows descriptive statistics for how parents perceived their child’s media use. Parents perceived media use as harmful to their child’s physical activity, behavior, and ability to focus. They also agreed that their child was better off with less media. Surprisingly, screen media time was not associated with psychological distress in any regression model (Table 2). Problematic media use was associated with parent psychological distress above and beyond daily parent and child COVID-19 impact and screen media time (β = 0.44, 95%CI: 0.16, 0.72).

Qualitative: The dominant theme – “screen OVERLOAD” – comprises codes on rising screen time for children and parents, and related concerns. Other themes include parental media regulation (sample codes: restrict/allow more media, media as good/necessary evil), many functions of media (the new babysitter, for social connection), and family media (watch media together, sibling influence on media use).

Conclusion: Overall, our hypotheses are supported in that parents reported a host of concerns related to their child’s media use and expressed overall negative opinions of that media use. Additionally, problematic media use was related to parent psychological distress above and beyond daily COVID-19 impact and screen media use.

Authors

• Lauren Eales, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Gail M Ferguson, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shelby Smoyer, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Gillespie, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephanie M Carlson, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author