Digital media: promoting healthy screen use

Question 1

Definition of screentime?

Answer 1

Time spent with any screen, including smart phones, tablets, television, video games, computers or wearable technology

Question 2

Definition of digital media?

Answer 2

Content transmitted over the Internet or computer networks on all devices, unless particular ones are specified

Question 3

Potential benefits of screen time/digital media on school aged children?

Answer 3

• Can be immersive and informative if age-appropriate and co-viewed with family, and watched with purpose and limit
• Screen media can:
• -Improve academic performance, enrich knowledge and literacy skills, help develop positive relationships with teachers and peers
• -Encourage both autonomous and collaborative learning, stimulate inquiry
• -Dynamic software/games cana increase proficiency and reduce learning gaps in math
• Cooperative or competitive video games (played with family and friends) can reflect and function as traditional play, offer opportunities for identity, cognitive and social development
• -Some video gaming has been positively associated with increased sense of well-being, prosocial behaviour, fewer conduct problems
• -Many, esp boys, regularly socialize through games
• Recreational screen time of 1 hour per day associated with lower depression risk compared to no screen time
• Digital technology can help children make and maintain friendships, and these relationships may be more diverse and gender-inclusive than offline

Question 4

Risks of screen time/digital media for school aged children?

Answer 4

• Age-inappropriate or violent contact, having TV in bedroom, and background TV can negatively affect development and behaviour
• TV >3 hours at 5 years = predicted increasing conduct problems by age 7
• Higher rates of recreational screen in children reported with higher depressive symptoms and lower physical activity level
• Minoriity or marginalized students may have less access to quality Internet-based learning resources
• Lost learning opportunities to learn/interact with family due to solitary screen use
• Children may be overconfident about being able to protect themselves online
• Multitasking - negative impact on both concurrent learning and academic outcomes in <12 years – disrupts reaading efficiency, impairs problem-solving and may undermine children’s confidence in their own ability to do homework
• Stronger aassociation between depressive symptoms and leisure-time screen-based sedentary activities is emerging - more vulnerable to negative socio-cognitive outcomes from heavy screen use than teens

Question 5

What is the most immediate risk to physical health associated with screens?

Answer 5

Distracted (texting or using headphones) driving, walking, jogging or biking

Question 6

4 essential M’s?

Answer 6

• Manage
• Meaningful
• Model
• Monitor

Question 7

How can parents Manage screen use?

Answer 7

• Make and regularly review or revise a Family Media Plan, including individualized time and content limits
• Continue to be present and engaged when screens are used and, whenever possible, co-view and talk about content with children and teens
• Discourage media multitasking, especially during homework
• Learn about parental controls and privacy settings
• Obtain their child’s or teen’s passwords and login info for devices and social media accounts, to help ensure safety online and to follow online profiles and activities if concerns arise
• Speak proactively with children and teens about acceptable and unacceptable online behaviours

Question 8

How can parents encourage meaningful screen use?

Answer 8

• Prioritize daily routines, such as interacting face-to-face, sleep, and physical activity over screen use
• Prioritize screen activities that are educational, active, or social over those that are passive or unsocial
• Help children and teens to choose developmentally appropriate content and to recognize problematic content or behaviours
• Be a part of their children’s media lives. For example, join in during video game play and ask about experiences and encounters online
• Advocate for schools, child care centres and after-school programs to consider developing their own plan for digital literacy and screen use

Question 9

How can parents model healthy screen use?

Answer 9

• Encourage them to review their own media habits, plan time for alternative hobbies, outdoor play and activities
• Remind parents and adolescents of the dangers of texting or using headphones while driving, walking, jogging, or biking
• Encourage daily “screen-free” times, especially for family meals and socializing
• Ask whether screens are “off” when not in use, including background TVs
• Remind parents and teens to avoid screens at least 1 hour before bedtime and discourage recreational screen use in bedrooms

Question 10

What signs can parents monitor for of problematic screen use at any age?

Answer 10

• Complaints about being bored or unhappy without access to technology
• Oppositional behaviour in response to screen time limits
• Screen use that interferes with sleep, school or face-to-face interactions
• Screen time that interferes with offline play, physical activities or socializing face-to-face
• Negative emotions following online interactions or video games or while texting

Question 11

Teens are ____ susceptible to negative effects of high screen time levels (___hrs/day) than younger children.

Answer 11

Less, <6h

Question 12

Zero screen use or excessive screen use in adolescents are both associated with ______________.

Answer 12

Negative effects

Question 13

_______ use (___hrs) has some cognitive and psychosocial benefits.

Answer 13

Moderate, 2-4hrs

Question 14

What are adolescent milestones that the digital world influences?

Answer 14

• Social connectedness with peers
• Sense of identity
• Independence from family
• Navigating socio-cultural world
• Developing autonomy

Question 15

Being constantly online can contribute to feelings of ________ and _________.

Answer 15

Alienation, social exclusion

Question 16

Recent research showed frequent online contact appears to _______ parent-teen relationshpis.

Answer 16

Strengthen

Question 17

Parents report the biggest sources of conflict over media are?

Answer 17

• The amount of time spent on screens

- Rule about when and how devices are used

Question 18

Potential benefits of screen time/digital media for adolescents?

Answer 18

• Media use appears to improve self-concept in teens by enhancing perceived friendship quality
• Social media can be validating, when thoughts and experiences are shared with peers, or affirming, when teens get help to ‘bounce back’ from social rejection or isolation
• -Social media sites can avert stigma and be safe, supportive places to explore sexuality and self-identity
• Positive effects on well-being, defined as positive emotions, psychosocial functioning and a sense of life satisfaction with moderate (2-4hrs/day) screen use
• Positive effects of communicating online may be stronger in adolescents who have less social support or are more uncomfortable socializing face to face

Question 19

Risks of screen time/digital media for adolescents?

Answer 19

• Family rules governing screen use are declining
• Many adolescents report spending ‘too much’ time online
• Being the receiver (or sending) of instant messages with negative content has been correlated with internalizing symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorders
• Small, but significant, association between excessive screen time (>6 hours/day) and feelings of depression in teens
• Frequent media multitasting has been linked to lower English and Math scores, weaker working memory, lower sustained attention, and greater impulsivity
• -Some research suggests that adolescents who are more prone to habitual multitasking may be the least able to learn effectively
• When video game play exceeds a certain threshold, its positive influences diminish or disapear
• ->50% daily free time playing e-games –> slight negative effects on overall well-being, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems and emotional problems
• Socially anxious or depressed adolescents communicate online more often with strangers and tend to self-disclose more
• Parents perceive decreased family time and closeness in homes where many devices are used, and too much technology can erode family connectedness

Question 20

Impact of digital media/screen time on physical activity?

Answer 20

-Already inactive adolescents spend more time using screens
-Screen time impacts healtth more than overall sedentary time
-While longer & more frequent screen and TV viewing are significantly
associated with unfavourable body composition and lower fitness measures, not necessarily causal nor consistent

Question 21

Impact of digital media/screen time on weight?

Answer 21

• TV viewing:
• -inversely associated with fruit and vegetable consumption
• -positively associated with total energy intake, energy-dense drinks, snacks and fast food
• Screen-based sedentary behaviour linked with unhealthy dietary intake:
• -TV watching can suppress satiety signals
• -Fast food, sweetened beverage and restaurant ads contribute to this

Question 22

Impact of digital media/screens on sleep?

Answer 22

• Screens in bedroom interfere with sleep duration and quality
• While number of bedroom TVs has declined, presence of other screens has increased
• Newer tech, TV, mobile phones displacing sleep time –> emotional arousal –> inhibits melatonin release and disrupts sleep rhythm
• ->shortened sleep duration
• -> self-reported insufficient sleep or rest

Question 23

Potential benefits of screen time/digital technology on physical health?

Answer 23

• Some screen activities promote PA
• Digital tech to track PA, control weight, improve diet can promote healthy lifestyles
• Smartphone-based activities like geocoachinig provide motivation for PA
• Active video games can increase PA and decrease obesity measures in the short-term, especially when part of a comprehensive weight control program and played as a team

Question 24

Risks of screen time/digital technology on physical health?

Answer 24

-Texting while driving = serious danger (common among older adolescents)
-The relationship between screen media exposure and obesity risk in children and adolescents depends on multiple (though modifiable) factors:
–sedentary behaviours
–time spent on screens
–eating while viewing
–food and beverage advertising
–shorter sleep duration
-Having media in the bedroom is associated with increasing sedentary time, obesity risk, cardiometabolic risk, lower PA rates and shorter sleep duration
-Delayed bedtime and shorter sleep duration are consistent across media type and age group, with associated negative effects on learning, memory, mood and behaviour
-Children may be more vulnerable than teens to physiological responses from central nervous system arousal and sleep disruption
-Eye problems, headaches, not eating, and fatigue – even if not excessive screen use
–Canadian ophthalmologists recently emphasized the need for regular breaks from prolonged screen use, limits based on age and need, and a screen-free hour before bedtime
Repetitive strain injury or musculoskeletal complaints – more common
Correlation between social media use and appearance anxiety, body image concerns, and disordered eating in adolescents