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Updated: May 21, 2025
Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools
Published on: June 20, 2020
Process evaluation of a Germany-wide complex intervention to prevent dysregulated screen time in under threes: a
Juliane Schemmer1,2, David Martin1,2,3, Hanno Krafft1
1Institute for Integrative Medicine, Chair of Medical Theory, Integrative and Anthroposophic Medicine, Department of Human Medicine, Faculty of Health, University of Witten/Herdecke, Herdecke, Germany.
Insights
Excessive screen time in children is a major concern. The "Screen free till 3" study successfully integrated parent education into pediatric practices, showing high parent and practice engagement for early childhood screen time reduction.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health Interventions
- Digital Media and Child Development
Background:
- Childhood screen time exceeds recommended limits, posing health risks.
- Early intervention is crucial for mitigating negative health outcomes associated with screen exposure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the implementation and reach of the "Screen free till 3" intervention.
- To assess the integration of parent education on screen time into routine pediatric care.
- To analyze the process evaluation of a complex intervention using the RE-AIM framework.
Main Methods:
- Cluster-randomized trial involving pediatric practices in Germany.
- Intervention involved parent education during 6-month-old child examinations.
- Process evaluation utilized quantitative methods, including app-based and telephone surveys, analyzed via the RE-AIM scheme.
Main Results:
- High parent participation (10,391) via an app-based survey.
- Significant practice adoption (33.4% participation, 84.1% of contacted institutions interested).
- Positive feedback from practices: 87.2% felt supported, 91.6% would recommend the project.
Conclusions:
- The "Screen free till 3" intervention demonstrates high reach to parents and strong adoption by pediatric practices.
- The study highlights the relevance of screen time education and the innovation of the intervention materials.
- The intervention is effectively integrated into German pediatric practice structures, indicating successful implementation.
Background:
Children's current screen time is well above current recommendations and is associated with many health consequences in the first years of life.
Methods:
The complex intervention study "Screen free till 3" introduced parent education to a regular examination of 6-month-old children in outpatient pediatric practices. Pediatric practices were cluster-randomized in a 2:1 ratio (intervention group:control group). 2,581 pediatric practices received the intervention materials by cold call and participated by self-selection. The study includes a process evaluation that examines the implementation process. In this article, four different quantitative methods of the process evaluation are evaluated according to the RE-AIM scheme.
Result:
33.4% of pediatric practices confirmed their participation in the study. 10,391 parents took part in the pre-interventional app-based parent survey. 151 interested institutions contacted the research team by email. The majority (84.1%) asked to take part in the study. 518 pediatric practices took part in a telephone survey, of which 87.2% said that they are supported by the intervention materials and 91.6% would recommend the project to others.
Discussion:
The RE-AIM analysis shows a high reach of parents via the app. The high adoption by pediatric practices and other institutions characterizes the relevance of the topic as well as the innovation of the study materials. After one and a half years, the intervention is firmly integrated into the structures of pediatric practices in Germany.
Trial Register Number:
https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00032258, DRKS00032258.
