Maternal Education Level and Excessive Recreational Screen Time in Children: A Mediation Analysis

Abstract

There is increasing recognition of the adverse health consequences of excessive recreational screen time (RST) in children and adolescents. Early interventions that aim to reduce RST are crucial, but there are some controversies about which individual and parental variables affect RST in children. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of parental education level with RST in children and early adolescents and to identify mediators of these relationships. This cross-sectional study examined a sample of children (2–14 year-old) who attended routine childcare visits in primary health care centers in Spain (n = 402; 53.7% males; mean age: 7 ± 4 year-old). A self-reported questionnaire was given to the parents to assess sociodemographic data, parental education, the home media environment, and RST in children. Separate analysis was performed for two age groups (2–6 year-old and 6–14 year-old). Path analysis, an application of structural equation modeling, was used to analyze the data. Fitty three percent of the children had excessive RST (≥2 h/day). The maternal education level, eating lunch/dinner in front of a TV, presence of a background TV, and the amount of parental TV viewing had significant associations with excessive RST in both age groups. For the younger group, the maternal education level had direct and indirect effects on RST (total effect: β = −0.29, p < 0.01). For the older group, maternal education level only had a significant indirect effect on RST, and this was mediated by the presence of a background TV and the time of parental TV viewing (total indirect effect: β = −0.11, p < 0.01). A higher maternal education level appears to be associated with certain environmental factors or habits that prevent excessive RST.