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Background: Screen media exposure has been increasing in the preschool years. Risky aspects of screen exposure have many potential negative effects on children's health. We aimed to evaluate problematic screen exposure in Turkish preschool children by using a unique tool called the "Seven-in-Seven Screen Exposure Questionnaire" and to investigate factors associated with problematic screen exposure., Methods: A questionnaire form was designed including general descriptive questions in the first part. In the second part, a questionnaire we designed called the "Seven-in-Seven Screen Exposure Questionnaire" was conducted to evaluate problematic screen exposure characteristics. The questionnaire included seven items: daily screen time, viewing with parent(s), setting screen limits, screen exposure during meals and in the hour before bedtime, age of onset of screen exposure, and viewing low-quality content. The total problematic screen exposure score (range 0-13) was generated by summing scores from the seven items. Total scores are classified into two categories: low (< 7) and high (≥ 7). Logistic regression was performed to search for independent parameters associated with problematic screen exposure., Results: One thousand two hundred forty-five mother-child pairs participated in this study. The median age of the children was 3.9 (IQR: 2.9-4.7) years and 51% were males. Overall, 280 children (22.5%) had a problematic screen exposure score of ≥7 (high). The median problematic screen exposure score was 4 (IQR: 3-6). Maternal age of < 30 years; paternal age of ≥30 years; maternal educational level of ≤12 years; the age of 24-48 months; home-based daycare; postponing eating, toileting, or sleeping while using a screen; and using touchscreen devices were found to be associated with an increased risk of having a high problematic screen exposure score., Conclusion: Developing national scales to monitor problematic screen use in children would be more effective than monitoring screen time alone. All of the screen use characteristics not recommended in children would be evaluated using problematic screen exposure scales. The "Seven-in-Seven Screen Exposure Questionnaire" may serve as an example for further studies., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Aim: Early childhood screen exposure leads to multiple adverse health events and parents have a major influence on their children's screen time. Our aim was to determine the association between maternal acceptance-rejection/control behaviours and excessive screen exposure in pre-school children., Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, children aged 2-5 years who had daily screen time <1 h (n = 76) and >4 h (n = 62) were enrolled. A structured survey form and Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire were completed by mothers., Results: Total rejection scores were found to be lower in those with screen time <1 h than cases with >4 h (82.7 ± 13.2, 89.3 ± 17.2; P = 0.015). In addition, higher hostility, neglect and reverse-affection scores were detected in excessive screen-exposed group (P = 0.033, P = 0.003, P = 0.047, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that mothers' low acceptance of their children and high neglect score were associated with excessive screen exposure after adjusting possible confounding factors. The undifferentiated rejection and control behaviours of the mothers had no association with excessive screen exposure., Conclusion: Children with excessive screen time may have a problematic relationship with their mothers. The relationship between parent and child should be examined and corrective actions should be taken., (© 2020 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).)

We aimed to investigate the video game habits and their relationship with home environment in children 2–5 years in Turkey. A structured questionnaire about the child's demographic, screen, and video gaming characteristics was completed by parents in five health centers from three provinces. One-quarter of 1245 preschoolers were found to play video games. The prevalence of playing video games was higher in older age, male gender, low parental education, families with 3 or more children, having a game console, computers and tablets at home, child's screen time of more than 2 hours per day, child's non-compliance with the parental screen rules, and presence of someone else playing videogame at home. Of the parents, 54.5% did not know the name of the video game the child was playing. Parents should be counseled about supervising on their children's video game playing habits and selection of well-designed games with the right content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Young children and preschoolers are now growing up in settings filled with a variety of technological devices. Despite the recommendation that parents should limit screen time, many preschoolers are exposed to screens at very early ages and for a long time. This study aimed to investigate the associations between parenting styles and the excessive screen time of preschool-aged children. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included preschool children with low screen exposure (<1 hour; n=176) and excessive screen exposure (>4 hours; n=74). A self-completion-structured survey form and Parent Attitude Scale were filled by the mothers. Results: More than half (52.0%) of them were male children. Increased number of children, increased household sizes, mothers being unemployed, birth order ≥2, and home-based care were found to be statistically significantly higher in the excessive screen exposure group than in the low screen exposure group. Mothers and fathers in the excessive screen exposure group had lower educational levels compared with their counterparts in the low screen exposure group (p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that mothers' high authoritative (democratic) scores were associated with low screen exposure(adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.3; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-0.9). High overprotective and permissive parenting subscale scores were related to excessive screen exposure after adjusting potential confounders (AOR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.1-6.7; AOR: 4.5, 95% CI: 1.8-11.6). Conclusion: Excessive screening time may indicate a problematic parent-child relationship. Establishing a positive parent-child relationship can be an effective way of managing screen time in preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]