Investigation Of Screen Exposure In Children With Language Developmental Delay And Analysis Of Its Related Factors

Objective:To investigate the screen exposure status in 1-5 year old children with language developmental delay,and analyze the related factors affecting screen time of children.To provide scientific basis for social intervention of these children,and to promote the early healthy development of children.Methods:A total of 150 children aged 12-60 months diagnosed with language developmental delay and language dimension score < 85 of Gesell Developmental Diagnostic Scale from July 2021 to February 2022 in the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Department of Shanxi Children’s Hospital were selected as the case group(delay group).Taking gender and age as matching factors,151 children with normal development(score of each dimension of Gesell evaluation ≥85)were selected as the control group at the same period.With the consent of the children’s parents,the investigators will ask the parents and fill in the questionnaire according to uniform standards.The questionnaire includes two parts: " basic information questionnaire " and "screen electronic products use questionnaire".The questionnaire was reviewed and recovered on the spot.The collected data were sorted into Excel in a unified format,and SPSS26.0 software was used for statistical analysis.χ~2 test,Fisher’s exact probability method,Mann-Whitney U test,Spearman correlation were used for single factor analysis.Multivariate linear regression was used for multivariate analysis.Results:There were 150 cases in the delayed group,including 95 males(63.3%)and 55 females(36.7%),with a minimum age of 15 months and a maximum age of 57 months.There were82 cases(54.7%)of global developmental delay,51 cases(34.0%)of autism spectrum disorder,and 17 cases(11.3%)of simple language developmental delay.In the control group,there were 151 cases,including 96 males(63.6%)and 55 females(36.4%),with the minimum age ranging from 12 months to 60 months.There were no significant differences in gender(χ~2=0.002,P=0.97)and age(Z=-0.425,P=0.67)between the two groups.There were 137 cases(91.3%)of screen overexposure in the delayed group and 75 cases(49.7%)in the control group,the difference was statistically significant(χ~2=62.725,P<0.01).Median initial exposure age of 12.0(12.0-18.0)months in the delayed group was significantly lower than 18.0(14.0-24.0)months in the control group(Z=-6.248,P<0.01).The median total daily screen time was 185.0 minutes in the delayed group and 50.0 minutes in the control group,with a significant difference between groups(Z=-11.883,P<0.01).The most common reason for screen exposure was parents’ inability to accompany their children(52.0%)in the delayed group and study(43.0%)in the control group,the difference being statistically significant(χ~2=119.765,P<0.01).In the delayed group,69 cases(46.0%)could carry screen electronic products into the bedroom,which was significantly higher than that in the control group(23 cases(15.2%))(χ~2=33.566,P<0.01).Parents in the control group performed better in limiting children’s screen exposure and accompanying children’s screen use than those in the delayed group(χ~2=61.457,49.832,both P<0.01).The total daily screen time of parents and main caregivers in delayed group was significantly higher than that in control group(P<0.05).There were 87 cases(58.0%)of parents in the delayed group who often used screens with their children,compared with 24 cases(15.9%)in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(χ~2=57.312,P<0.01).90.7% of parents in the delayed group had difficulty in managing children’s screen exposure,compared with 62.9%in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(χ~2=32.474,P<0.01).Multivariate analysis showed that the change of children’s daily total screen time had a linear regression relationship with parent-child language communication time,mother’s screen time after returning home,main caregivers of administrative/technical occupations,father-child time,and the number of books read by children was 10 or more,which was positively correlated with mother’s screen time after returning home.Mother’s screen time after returning home had the greatest effect on children’s daily total screen time.Conclusions:Screen exposure is very common in young children,and children with language developmental delay are more serious than those with normal development,which is manifested by widespread over-exposure to screen and lack of reasonable management.There was a significant positive correlation between mother’s screen time and children’s total screen time,and the mother’s screen time was longer in the delay group.It is suggested that the screen exposure of children with language developmental delay should be properly managed,the relationship between father and child should be emphasized,the language communication should be enhanced,and parents should play a good role as role models to promote the early development of children.