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Infants’ and toddlers’ digital media use and mothers’ mental health: A comparative study before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Pedrotti Bruna Gabriella,
Mallmann Manoela Yustas,
Almeida Carla Regina Santos,
Marques Fernanda Martins,
Vescovi Gabriela,
Riter Helena da Silveira,
Almeida Maíra Lopes,
Pieta Maria Adélia Minghelli,
Frizzo Giana Bitencourt
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.21952
Subject(s) - screen time , mental health , psychological intervention , pandemic , covid-19 , psychology , digital media , factorial analysis , medicine , bivariate analysis , developmental psychology , demography , psychiatry , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , statistics , mathematics , sociology , world wide web , computer science , obesity
This study compared children's and mothers’ digital media use and mothers’ mental health in two samples: one accessed before (Group 1; N = 257; M = 33.18 years; SD = 4.79) and the other accessed during (Group 2; N = 256; M = 33.51 years; SD = 4.96) the COVID‐19 pandemic in Brazil. Mothers of children up to 3 years old (Group 1: M = 17.95 months, SD = 9.85; Group 2: M = 16.48 months, SD = 10.15) answered an online survey. Bivariate analysis, factorial ANOVA tests, and multiple linear regression were performed. Results suggest that mothers’ and children's media use duration was higher during the pandemic only among children over 12 months. Mothers’ media use duration ( β = .18) and mothers’ intention to offer media ( β = .23) contributed to the explanation of children's media use duration ( F (4, 474) = 16.81; p < .001; R 2 = .12; R 2 adjusted = .117). Higher mothers’ common mental disorders symptoms were also positively correlated to mothers’ intention to offer media to children both before and during the pandemic. Results suggest that interventions focusing on infants and toddlers screen time reduction should target maternal aspects such as mental health, maternal screen time, and intention to offer media, taking into account the mothers’ needs when planning these actions.