Skip to content

Stressed parents less likely to enforce screen-time limits: U of G study

Research also found parents reporting increased device-use when stressed out themselves
Children Screen Time

GUELPH — The pandemic closing down schools and child care has left parents spending much more time with their young children these days.

It's no wonder that with the lack of child care options or even entertainment options, parents may feel pressure to simply turn on a screen for their children.

A study out of the University of Guelph and published in the Journal of Children and Media found a correlation between the stresses of parenting and low screen-time enforcement.

The study surveyed 64 parents from 39 families of children 18 months to five years of age. Parents were asked questions about their stress levels, and whether they monitored and limited their children's screen-time, along with how often they use their own media devices in front of their children.

Lead author Lisa Tang is a PhD candidate in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition. She says they found that when parents were stressed, it became more difficult for them to limit their children's screen-time. They also found it was difficult for the parent to model good screen-time behaviour. Mothers in the survey reported being on their phones or other devices more often as they became more stressed.

Likewise, "household chaos" was linked to less screen-time for children, according to Tang.

"Well it could just be that when kids are off the screen, they're more noisy in the home, right? Or it could just be that, as household chaos... as the house hold becomes a little bit more chaotic, we're less likely to put in the effort to enforce some screen time rules," she said.

Tang emphasized that the results of the study was not a "guilt situation," but more along the lines of drawing attention to our own behaviours and being aware of the pitfalls. Children often imitate their parents as they learn and grow, which includes their screen-time behaviours.

"It's more about being conscious and aware of our children's screen-time, and also aware of our own stress-levels as parents and how that maybe influencing how we are using screens."

She says there's nothing wrong with some screen-time, but she wants to avoid simple advice that boils it down to just limiting time to two hours a day.


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.