Peer-reviewed article
Adolescents’ screen time exposure and the associated physical and psychological factors: an urban–rural perspective
Gauri A. Oka, Ashish S Ranade, Mayur Kiran Shinde, Madhuri P. Kasabekar, Prasad Dnyandeo Pore ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This cross-sectional study compared daily screen time among 627 urban and rural school students in western India. Urban students and boys spent more time on screens than rural students and girls. Rural students were far more likely to do outdoor physical activity more than two days a week. Students with more than two hours of daily screen time were more likely to have some or high needs on the hyperactivity scale. The authors conclude that interventions should take urban–rural differences into account.
Key points
- The sample was 627 students (334 urban, 293 rural) with a mean age of 12.5 years.
- Mean total daily screen time was 111.9 minutes. It was 121.5 minutes for urban students and 100.9 minutes for rural students (p = 0.001).
- Boys had longer screen time than girls (122.9 vs 100.9 minutes), and boys had higher odds of more than 2 hours a day (aOR 1.51, 95% CI 1.05–2.17).
- Outdoor physical activity on more than 2 days a week was reported by 78.8% of rural and 35.9% of urban students (OR 6.64, 95% CI 4.64–9.51).
- Some or high needs on the SDQ hyperactivity scale were found in 11.4% of students with more than 2 hours of screen time, compared with 5.7% of others (p = 0.022).
Limitations
The cross-sectional design cannot show whether screen time causes the physical or psychological differences, and activity and screen time were self-reported. The sample came from a few schools in one part of one Indian state, so it may not represent adolescents elsewhere.
Abstract
Background Data exist on adolescents’ screen time behavior, but are lacking on urban–rural differences. We compared daily screen time exposures and associated anthropometric parameters, frequency of outdoor physical activity, and psychological parameters of urban and rural school-going adolescents. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Using five districts of one of the administrative divisions of a western Indian state as the sampling frame, the first two urban and first two rural schools were selected from a randomly reordered list of schools. We included 627 students from 5th, 7th, and 9th standards as representatives of the adolescent age group (10–19 years). Self-reported outdoor physical activity, psychological assessment using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and daily time spent on each were recorded. We determined associations between area of residence, frequency of outdoor physical activity, and SDQ scores and screen time using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of excessive screen time (>2 h/day). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Results There were 334 (53.3%) urban and 293 (46.7%) rural students. The mean age was 12.5 ± 1.4 years. Mean daily total screen time was 111.9 ± 71.7 min. Urban compared to rural [121.5 ± 75.9 min vs. 100.9 ± 65.0 min; p = 0.001] and boys compared to girls [122.9 ± 81.9 min vs. 100.9 ± 58.0 min; p < 0.000] had longer total screen time exposure. Being a rural resident was significantly associated with a >2 days/week of outdoor physical activity [78.8% (rural) vs. 35.9% (urban), respectively; OR 6.64, 95% CI 4.64–9.51, p < 0.000]. Students with daily screen time of >2 h had some/high needs on the SDQ hyperactivity scale [11.4% vs. 5.7%; p = 0.022]. Males had significantly higher odds of >2 h of total daily screen time than females (aOR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.05–2.17; p = 0.026). Conclusion The associations between longer screen time exposure and worse physical and psychological factors warrant interventions with special attention to urban–rural differences.