Using Wearable Video Cameras to Assess Screen Use Contexts in Preschool-Aged Children: Pilot Observational Study.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Media Studies
• Child Development

Background:

• Wearable video cameras offer a feasible method for assessing preschool children's screen time contexts.
• Understanding screen content and co-use is crucial for child development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the contexts of screen use in preschool-aged children using wearable video cameras.
• To analyze screen content, device type, and social interactions during screen time.

Main Methods:

• Children aged 2-5 years wore video cameras for one day in their homes.
• Video footage was manually coded for device, content (Common Sense Media ratings), setting, and social interaction.
• Reliability was ensured through 15% double coding.

Main Results:

• Screen use constituted 21.8% of total camera wear time, predominantly program viewing on televisions in the lounge room.
• Programs had low educational value and were often not age-appropriate for the children.
• Screen multitasking was rare, while co-viewing occurred in approximately one-third of screen use.

Conclusions:

• Contexts beneficial for development, such as educational and age-appropriate content, were infrequently observed.
• Interventions are needed to guide parents in selecting high-quality, age-appropriate screen content.
• The small sample size limits the generalizability of these findings.