Electronic media use and emotional/behavioral problems among Brazilian children during Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

To reduce the spread of the coronavirus, isolation/social distancing mea sures were adopted, such as closing schools and adopting remote learning. In this scenario, there were consequences to the children’s routine, such as increased screen time and exposure to electronic media (EM). The objective was to verify whether exposure to different EM changes the chances of emotional/clinical behavioral problems among children (7-11 years) during the Covid-19 pandemic, from the perspective of those guardians. A total of 277 respondents filled out the sociodemographic questionnaire, Media Activity Form – Parent Report (MAF-P) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18), between June 10th and August 10th, 2020. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed with each scale of emotional/behavioral problems as the outcome, and the total number of hours in each EM was used as a predictor. More time on social media, creating content online, in texting and calling apps, and for school purposes increased the odds in clinical scores for somatic and conduct problems. Longer time watching videos on communication channels and accessing entertainment/information sites decreased the chances of clinical scores on behavioral/emotional problems. One should think about whether the post-pandemic and face-to-face return to activities will modify the relationship between the time of use and the chances of problems at the clinical level. In addition, one should think about how EM is used by children, its functions and the content used, to develop strategies for use in this age group and parental management for such exposure.