Screen Use During Meals Among Young Children: Exploration of Associated Variables.

Background and Objectives: There is evidence that eating meals or snacks while watching TV is an obesogenic factor. Moreover, the patterns of TV and other screen use during meals begin early and persist. However, there are only a few studies to date which address the prevalence and predictors of young children's exposure to screen during mealtimes. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the associated factors of screen use during meals in early childhood. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted in Lithuania. Data of 847 children aged 2 to 5 years old (51.5% boys) were analyzed in this study. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1½-5) and reported their children's daily screen time, exposure to background TV, screen use during child's meals, child and parental height and weight, and sociodemographic data. Results: More than half of children were exposed to screen during meals: 33.7% occasionally, several times per week or per month, and 22%-daily or during every meal. Overall daily screen time, background TV, consumption of junk food, child age, and emotional and behavioral problems were related to mealtime screen use (all associations significant at p < 0.01). Longer daily screen time (OR 1.01; 95% CI 1.00-1.01), more background TV (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.10-1.45), and elder child age (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.00-1.03) were significant predictors of occasional use of screen during meals. Also, longer daily screen time (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98-0.99), background TV (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.66-0.91) together with no siblings' status of a child (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.25-0.69) increased the probability that children were fed in front of screens daily. Conclusions: This study confirmed the unfavorable associations among screen use during meals, daily screen time and junk food consumption in early childhood. In addition, first-time parents should get particular health providers' attention as they are more likely to use screens during child's mealtime.

The Predictors of Psychological Well-Being in Lithuanian Adolescents after the Second Prolonged Lockdown Due to COVID-19 Pandemic.

Recent research highlights the impact of prolonged pandemics and lockdown on the mental health of youngsters. The second wave of COVID-19 brought an increase in mental health problems among young people. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the main factors arising from intra-individual, inter-individual, and environmental contexts that predict good psychological well-being in a group of adolescents after a second prolonged period of social restrictions and distance education. The study included 1483 school students from 11 to 19 years old. The survey assessed self-reported students' psychological well-being (WHO-5 index), physical activity, sedentary behavior, school social capital, communication with peers and relationships with parents, existing emotional and behavioral problems. The results indicated that 58% of adolescents were of good psychological well-being in spring 2021, after half a year in lockdown. Almost 19% of adolescents had depression risk. The study revealed that during a period of prolonged isolation, male gender, better relationships between young people and their parents, the absence of serious emotional and behavioral problems, less sedentary behavior, and higher school social capital were found to be significant factors predicting adolescents' psychological well-being. Lower physical activity is an important contributor to students' poor well-being. Finally, the lack of face-to-face communication with peers was revealed as a specific factor in predicting adolescents with depression risk.

Sedentary Behavior among 6-14-Year-Old Children during the COVID-19 Lockdown and Its Relation to Physical and Mental Health.

As a result of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and consequent restrictions in spring 2020, children in many countries might be engaged in more sedentary behavior and have limited possibilities to access the necessary level of physical activity to maintain their physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between child sedentary behavior, physical activity, mental and physical health, and parental distress in a sample of Lithuanian children aged 6-14 years during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in March-June 2020. Parents of 306 children (52.9% female) completed an online survey in May-June 2020 and reported on their children's screen time for educational and recreational (leisure) purposes, the level of physical activity and time outdoors, somatic symptoms, and emotional well-being and behavior. Parents also reported on stressful life events in the family and personal distress. The results revealed that 57.5% of children exceeded the recommended maximum of 2 h of recreational screen time per day, and 33.6% of the children did not meet the recommended guidelines of 60 min of physical activity per day. Longer screen time for educational purposes and parental distress significantly predicted a higher prevalence of somatic symptoms in children and parental distress also served as a significant predictor of children's decreased emotional well-being and behavior. These results highlight the importance of psychosocial support interventions for parents who experience distress when raising children at a stressful time, such as during a pandemic.

Developmental trajectories of mother reported regulatory problems from toddlerhood to preschool age.

Developmental trajectories of mother-reported regulatory problems of typically developing children from age one and a half to four years old and possible predictors of various trajectories are analyzed in this study. Participants were 281 children born as full-term babies and their mothers. The attention and behavior regulation (ABR) problems and emotion regulation (ER) problems scales derived from maternal ratings on CBCL/1½-5 were used. Also, data on the neonate's functioning, problem behaviors in infancy, maternal postpartum depressiveness, SES, maternal self-efficacy, and parenting practices were gathered prospectively at different time points and were analyzed as factors of regulatory problems. The latent class analysis for ABR problems over time suggested a 4-class solution: 35% of children were classified as having stable low, 27.6% - stable medium, 22.6% - decreasing and 14.1% - stable high levels of problems. Analysis of ER problems suggested a 3-class solution: 65% showed stable low, 25.1% - decreasing and 9.2% - increasing level of problems. Results showed the significance of maternal self-efficacy in predicting mother-rated emotional and behavioral regulation problems. Young maternal age and non-marital status resulted as risk factors for ABR problems, and lower maternal education differentiated the increasing from decreasing ER problems trajectories. Maternal depressiveness was found to be an additional risk factor for stable high ABR problems as opposed to decreasing trajectory, and lower scores of supportive responses predicted increasing vs. decreasing ER problems. Apgar scores were added only for high vs. medium ABR problems, and behavior problems in infancy for increasing vs. low ER problems trajectory in the study sample. Female gender was a stable predictor for a trajectory of low ABR problems. Early risk factors related with high ABR problems or increasing ER problems trajectories that may be important targets for intervention practices as well as further research are discussed.