The impact of different types of screen time on school-aged children’s quality of life and participation

Abstract

Introduction

This study investigated the impact of different types of screen time on quality of life and participation in school-aged children.

Method

Twenty-nine typically developing children (mean age: 9.34 $\pm$ 1.37, range: 8–14 years) and 20 of their parents completed the Children Screen Time Use Report, the KIDSCREEN-52 and the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth. Spearman rho correlations and linear regressions with bootstrapping were used to assess associations between screen time, health-related quality of life and activity participation.

Results

Regression analysis identified that passive screen time was a significant predictor of various KIDSCREEN-52 domains: physical wellbeing (b = −0.445, SE B = 0.008, p = .016), autonomy (b = −0.445, SE B = 0.011, p = .016) and social acceptance (b = 0.447, SE B = 0.007, p = .048). Educational, social and passive screen time were positively correlated with increased participation in home, community and school activities, respectively.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that passive screen time was mostly predictive of lower quality of life levels. However, passive, educational and social screen time positively correlate with participation in typically developing school-aged children. These findings assist occupational therapists to understand the impact of screen time on health and participation in children.