Pediatricians' Recommendations on Screen Media Use Significantly Improve Parents' Management Behaviors and Self-Efficacy: Evidence from a Quasi-Experimental Study.

Abstract

The widespread use of screen technologies among young children has raised concerns on their potential impact on health, development, and family dynamics. Although pediatric guidelines worldwide recommend clear limitations and supervised use of screens for toddlers and children, these guidelines are often overlooked in the daily practices of most parents. Digital Guardians [Custodi Digitali] seeks to address this gap by providing tailored guidance on screen management, from birth to adolescence, through family pediatricians during mandatory health checkups. This study employs a two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design to evaluate the short-term impact of Digital Guardians on a sample of 1,030 families residing in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Northern Italy. Our findings indicate a significant improvement in screen media management behaviors and increased parental efficacy in engaging in play with children within the treatment group over 3 months compared to the control group.