Abstract
Highlights
More research is available on the on- and off-screen behaviors of typically developing children but substantially less research is available on these behaviors among children with developmental disabilities (CwDD). As CwDD have different lifestyle needs and profiles than typically developing children, there exists an unmet need for a lifestyle and time-use questionnaire which examines screen-viewing time, physical activity time, and sleep duration of CwDD. This behavioral research report presents pilot results on the lifestyle behaviors of CwDD in Singapore using a validated questionnaire called Parent-surveillance of digital media habits in childhood Questionnaire The Singapore integrated 24-h guidelines stipulate that for optimal development, children should acquire a lifestyle that integrates regular physical activity, limited sedentary behavior, adequate sleep, among other lifestyle behaviors. This research report provides additional insights into the prevalence of CwDD in meeting the Singapore integrated 24-h guidelines recommendations.
Keywords
Authors’ note
The dataset associated with this study is available in the data repository of the corresponding author's institution. The dataset is available upon written permission from the corresponding author.
Footnotes
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the parents who participated in this pilot study. The ethical considerations of the research were approved (IRB-2020-06-021). The Parent-surveillance of digital media in childhood Questionnaire® (Parent-smalQ®) c/o Professor Michael Chia, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, is purely educational, with no commercial enterprise involved.
Contributorship
Michael Yong Hwa Chia and Deanna Tan conceptualized the study design, reviewed the literature, interviewed groups in the development of Parent-surveillance of digital media habits in childhood Questionnaire® (Parent-smalQ®), and coordinated data collection with schools. Terence Buan Kiong Chua curated and analyzed the data. Verity Yu Qing Lua authored the first manuscript in the format of a research paper. She covered various aspects of the paper including the research that was previously done on children with developmental disabilities and typically developing children. Michael Yong Hwa Chia and Terence Buan Kiong Chua provided critical feedback and responded to reviewers’ comments. Deanna Tan contributed by critically reviewing the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical statement
The ethical considerations of the research were approved (IRB-2020-06-021). Participants’ informed consent was obtained online prior to the research.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
