Screen time and behaviour in preschool-aged children: associations with sleep and caregiver perceptions

Preschoolers often exceed the recommended one-hour per day of screen time limit. We investigated the association between screen time and behaviour (internalising and externalising) with sleep duration and caregiver perceptions of screen time in a sample of 62 preschool-aged children (aged two to five years). Sleep duration was assessed using actigraphy. Caregivers completed a measure on child behaviour, a measure on screen media use, and a screen time diary over three days. The relationship between screen time and behaviour was non-significant, but sleep duration significantly moderated the relationship. For children with short sleep durations (<8.49 hours), greater screen time was associated with greater internalising and externalising behaviours. The more caregivers viewed screen time as a calming the higher the externalising scores, but the lower the internalising scores on the measure of behaviour. Caregivers who associated conflict with setting screen limits had children with higher externalising scores. These findings provide insight into preschoolers’ excessive screen time. The complexities of these relationships should be further investigated longitudinally.