CHILDREN’S USE OF INTERACTIVE MEDIA IN EARLY CHILDHOOD - AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the prevalence of interactive media (tablets and smartphones) use by children aged two to four years old, as well as to characterize this use, and investigate habits, practices, parents’ participation and opinion about their child’s interactive media use. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 244 parents or legal guardians of children enrolled in daycare centers in a small Brazilian municipality was conducted. A questionnaire based on interactive media use and related habits were applied, and economic level was assessed. Children were divided into three different groups according to media use: Group 1 did not use (n=81); Group 2 uses up to 45 min/day (n=83) and Group 3 uses more than 45 min/day (n=80). Then, they were compared with regard to the sociodemographic variables and media use by the Chi-square test and Student’s t-test. Results: The prevalence of interactive media use was 67.2%, with a mean time of use of 69.2 minutes/day (confidence interval of 95% - 95%CI 57.1-81.2). The activities most performed were watching videos (55%), listening to music (33%) and playing games (28%). Most parents reported allowing media use in order to stimulate their child’s development (58.4%), accompanying them during use (75.2%), and limiting media time (86.4%). Conclusions: We observed high interactive media use prevalence. The predominant way of using these devices was marked by parent-child participation. Most parents reported believing in the benefits of interactive media. Passive activities were more frequent, with restricted time of use.

摘要
研究目的：旨在描述2至4岁儿童使用交互式媒体（interactive media，含平板电脑与智能手机）的流行情况，刻画其使用特征，并探究儿童使用此类媒体的相关习惯、行为模式、家长参与情况及家长对子女使用交互式媒体的看法。
研究方法：本研究采用横断面研究设计，纳入244名巴西某小型市镇内就读于幼儿日托中心的儿童的家长或法定监护人。研究采用基于交互式媒体使用及相关习惯设计的调查问卷，并评估了研究对象的经济水平。依据媒体使用时长将儿童分为三组：第1组为未使用媒体组（n=81）；第2组为每日使用时长不超过45分钟组（n=83）；第3组为每日使用时长超过45分钟组（n=80）。随后采用卡方检验（Chi-square test）与学生t检验（Student’s t-test），比较三组儿童在社会人口学变量及媒体使用情况上的差异。
研究结果：本研究中儿童交互式媒体的使用流行率为67.2%，日均使用时长均值为69.2分钟，95%置信区间（confidence interval, 95%CI）：57.1~81.2。儿童最常进行的媒体活动依次为观看视频（55%）、收听音乐（33%）与玩游戏（28%）。多数家长表示，允许子女使用媒体是为了促进其发育（58.4%），会在子女使用媒体时予以陪同（75.2%），且会限制子女的媒体使用时长（86.4%）。
研究结论：本研究结果显示，儿童交互式媒体的使用流行率较高。此类设备的主流使用模式以亲子共同参与为特征。多数家长认可交互式媒体对子女的益处。被动型媒体活动更为常见，且儿童的媒体使用时长受到一定限制。