Correlates of mobile screen media use among children aged 0–8: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Objective: This study is a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature to identify the correlates of mobile screen media use among children aged 8 years and less. Setting: Home or community-based studies were included in this review while child care or school-based studies were excluded. Participants: Children aged 8 years or less were the study population. Studies that included larger age groups without subgroup analysis specific to the 0–8 years category were excluded. Eight electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed English language primary research articles published or in press between January 2009 and March 2017 that have studied correlates of mobile screen media use in this age group. Outcome measure: Mobile screen media use was the primary outcome measure. Mobile screen media use refers to children’s use of mobile screens, such as mobile phones, electronic tablets, handheld computers or personal digital assistants. Results: Thirteen studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified of which a total of 36 correlates were examined. Older children, children better skilled in using mobile screen media devices, those having greater access to such devices at home and whose parents had high mobile screen media use were more likely to have higher use of mobile screen media devices. No association existed with parent’s age, sex and education. Conclusion: Limited research has been undertaken into young children’s mobile screen media use and most of the variables have been studied too infrequently for robust conclusions to be reached. Future studies with objective assessment of mobile screen media use and frequent examination of the potential correlates across multiple studies and settings are recommended. Trial registration number: This review is registered with PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Ongoing Systematic Reviews (registration number: CRD42015028028 ).
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CogPGS and SES showed positive associations with each other and with baseline measures of intelligence at 9-10 years old.
“CogPGS and SES showed positive associations with each other and with the baseline measures of intelligence at 9–10 years old, in agreement with past research on children and teenagers45–47.”
From The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
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- Authors
- Paudel, S., Jancey, J., Subedi, N., & Leavy, J.
- Affiliations
- Curtin University (AU)
- Tribhuvan University (NP)
- Corresponding author
- Paudel, Susan
- Venue
- BMJ Open
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2017-10
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- e014585
- ISSN
- 2044-6055 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5665287
- OpenAlex
- W2767046731
- Cited by
- 159
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 3.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- BMJ Open (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Own your potential (DEAKIN) (acceptedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (acceptedVersion)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Curtin University of Technology
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Methods and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- young children, parental screen use, mobile devices
- MeSH terms
- Attitude to Computers, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Parents, Time Factors, Parenting, Guidelines as Topic, Computers, Handheld, Cell Phone
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