Young children's screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries

• DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/p5gm4_v1
• Publication Date: 2025-05-30T12:27:40Z
• Authors: Christina Bergmann; Nevena Dimitrova; Khadeejah Alaslani; Alaa Almohammadi; Haifa Alroqi; Suzanne Aussems; Mihaela Barokova; Catherine Davies; Nayeli Gonzalez-G...; Shannon P Kong; Naomi Havron; Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus; Junko Kanero; Natalia Kartushina; Christina Keller; Julien Mayor; Roger Mundry; Jeanne L. Shinskey; Nivedita Mani
• Keywords: 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak; Screen Time; Pandemic

This study examined children’s screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in a large cohort (n=2209) of 8-to-36-month-olds sampled from 15 labs across 12 countries. The sample was largely balanced by sex, though most participants were majority White. Caregivers reported that young infants and toddlers with no online schooling requirements exposed to more than before lockdown. While this exacerbated for countries longer lockdowns, there evidence increase associated demographics, e.g., age, SES. However, negatively child age SES positively caregiver attitudes towards time.