Introduction

Excessive screen time during early childhood may adversely impact physical, cognitive, and emotional development outcomes [1]. For young children (<5 years), excess screen use is associated with anti-social behaviours, poorer self-regulation and attention difficulties, cognitive and language delays, and obesity that may persist into adulthood [2–5]. To minimize potential health risks, the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) does not recommend screen time for children under 2 years of age, apart from video-chatting with caring adults, and suggests limiting screen time to less than 1 hour per day for 2-to-5-year-olds [1]. In contrast to the wealth of research highlighting the negative impacts screen time can have on young children, it is also important to acknowledge that there are certain circumstances in which screen time may be positive for children, particularly during the pandemic. Two specific screen activities that may benefit young children include video-chats to foster social connection with distanced loved ones, and virtual story times, which could help with language development and the establishment of routines [1].

Public health measures, such as social distancing and stay-at-home orders, were introduced to help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus [6]. Consequently, children were expected to learn, socialize, and play remotely at home, resulting in substantial increases in screen time among children under 5 years during this period [7]. Specifically, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, young children used screens for approximately 1.5 h/day [8]. This number increased to approximately 2.09 h/day, significantly exceeding the recommended screen time for this age group [8, 9].

Parents of young children have considerable control over the activities in which their children engage [10]. Parents may limit screen use by creating “screen-free” zones within the home (i.e., no screens during mealtimes or in the bedroom), promoting non-screen alternatives, and reducing their own screen use to model this behaviour [11]. However, this is not always a manageable task. Pre-pandemic, Jarvis and colleagues [12] found that parents face more challenges when trying to limit their child’s screen time than they do in promoting any other health behaviour. This became increasingly difficult during the pandemic due to the absence of children’s regular structured routines and a dearth in available alternatives to screen time [13].

Social media can be used for information or social support during a crisis and played a crucial role in influencing people’s health behaviours during COVID-19 [14, 15]. In response to mothers’ increased responsibility of managing their children’s pandemic health behaviours, including screen time, many leveraged social media to connect with other mothers for support, to generate activity ideas, and to vent their frustrations [16]. One such platform, Reddit, is a free social discussion website allows users to exchange with information and post content on forums designed around specific topics called subreddits [17]. These subreddits form communities of users that share common interests or contexts, including motherhood and child rearing [18]. Reddit is valuable for qualitative research for several reasons. First, it is the 18th most popular website in the world, giving rise to large amounts of data [17]. Additionally, posts on Reddit are publicly accessible, and users organize themselves into communities based on specific interests, which allows researchers to easily identify and study eligible participants [17]. Deeper textual analysis is also made possible on Reddit as it lacks character restriction, unlike other social media platforms such as Twitter, which has a 280-character limit that restricts the amount of information users can share with their followers [19]. In addition, Reddit is a text-based platform, in contrast to other popular social media platforms like Instagram, which are photo-based, and focus primarily on users sharing images taken in their daily life with their followers or the public, limiting amount of written, expressive content that may be used for analysis [20]. Moreover, Reddit’s anonymity allows users to share their feelings openly, potentially reducing self-report bias and increasing opportunities for self-disclosure [17]. Previous research on mental health has indicated that Reddit is a valuable source of data for qualitative analysis due to the willingness of anonymous users to express their experiences despite stigma or apprehension that may arise when disclosing their honest thoughts and feelings to mental health professionals and/or friends [21]. Since mothers of young children may experience guilt or shame when sharing the challenges they face as a parent, Reddit offers a safe outlet to be open about their experiences without fear of judgment from others [22, 23].

Numerous quantitative studies have explored children’s screen use throughout the pandemic, but many lack insight regarding how to support caregivers to mitigate this challenge [7, 24, 25] In addition, there is a lack of qualitative research that has examined mothers’ impressions of their efforts to limit their young children’s screen use during COVID-19. Eyler and colleagues [26] explored parents’ perceptions regarding their children’s physical activity and screen time during the pandemic. However, this study was not specific to mothers’ perspectives (parent who is typically reported as being primarily responsible for childcare [27]) and centred on the screen behaviours of children between 5–12 years [26]. Without understanding what mothers perceive to aid or impede them in reducing their child’s screen time, future interventions may fail to address critical factors voiced by caregivers who spend the most time with the child. In addition, resources or supports adopted to assist parents based on information specific to 5-to-12-year-olds may not be effective for younger children. While school-aged children increasingly engage in activities independently, the behaviour of those under 5 years is highly dependent on their caregivers as they require constant entertainment and supervision [28]. As such, this study aimed to qualitatively understand mothers’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to reducing their young children’s (0–5 years) screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic by leveraging social posts on Reddit.

Methods

Posts on Reddit related to screen use were queried and extracted from two subreddit groups for mothers, “Mommit” (https://www.reddit.com/r/Mommit/) and “Beyondthebump” (https://www.reddit.com/r/beyondthebump/), with 688,000 and 570,000 users, respectively. Such subreddits were chosen as they are the two most popular subreddits specifically dedicated to mothers on the Reddit app. Posts were collected using the search terms “screen time,” “tablet,” “phone,” “television,” and “TV.” Choice of key terms were informed by the literature and expert group (author) discussion. These search terms were used to obtain the initial repertoire of posts discussing the topic of screen use before screening for inclusion. Approval from the university’s ethics review board was not required as all published data were in the public domain; there was no waiver of consent. Collection and use of Reddit posts complies with the Reddit user terms and conditions agreement. The data described and analyzed in this article are openly available on from the authors’ institutional open-access repository: https://borealisdata.ca/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.5683/SP3/RLC7FO.

Results

The initial search yielded 582 posts uploaded from March 14th to August 31st, 2022. Of these posts, 157 were excluded as they did not meet the inclusion criteria, leaving 425 unique posts to be analyzed. Following analysis, five themes were clear regarding mother’s perspectives on their children’s pandemic screen time: 1. mothers’ alternative obligations creating an increase in child’s screen use; 2. request for advice/tips on how to reduce child’s screen time or looking to receive or give; 3. offering child more screen time to allow themselves to rest or recover, 4. compromising with child and allowing increased screen use, and 5. Mother’s screen use creating background or secondary screen exposure for the child. Within these five themes, 17 subthemes (three in theme one, seven in theme two, three in theme three, two in theme four, two in theme five) were identified which are presented in Table 1. To ease with interpretation, several themes and subthemes were organized into barriers and facilitators.

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Table 1. Emerging themes and subthemes from Reddit posts made by self-identifying mothers regarding their young child’s screen time.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301089.t001

Mothers’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators to screen time

From the themes identified in the reddit post analysis, six were labelled as barriers and two facilitators to screen use in young children. The six barriers that mothers identified to challenged their ability to limit their young child’s screen time were: mothers’ work, school, or homecare obligations; adoption of screens to occupy the child during road or airplane travel; high use of screen time with other caregivers; mothers offering child more screen time to allow themselves to rest or recover (e.g., self-care practices to reduce exhaustion, mother unable to entertain child while sick with COVID-19); pandemic changes to routine; and using screens to calm or soothe the child or to encourage the child to engage in necessary behaviours (e.g., eating, bathing). A visualization of the barriers is presented in Fig 1.

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Fig 1. Mothers’ perceived barriers to reducing young children’s screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Note: The size of the circles represents the number of posts (i.e., magnitude) discussing each barrier.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301089.g001

In contrast to the barriers listed above, mothers also identified factors that supported or empowered them to reduce their young child’s screen time. The two facilitators included receiving advice on how to limit their child’s screen use, such as sharing technical advice or rules or routines used in other households, and learning ideas for non-screen alternatives like audiobooks, podcasts, or board games. Mothers were able to learn what strategies or activities were found to be successful in other households. For example, many received technical advice on how to create a time restraint on their child’s device to ensure they were not exceeding their daily screen limit. The facilitators are presented visually in Fig 2.

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Fig 2. Mothers’ perceived facilitators to reducing young children’s screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Note: The size of the circles represents the number of posts (i.e., magnitude) discussing each facilitator.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301089.g002

Discussion

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, public health measures sequestered children to their homes, and resultingly, led to a surge in screen use reported by this young population [9, 34]. Qualitative content analysis of anonymous Reddit posts made by self-identified mothers provided insight into the factors that aided or hindered them in reducing their child’s screen time. Results indicate that mothers found it challenging to balance school, work, or household responsibilities and rest when exhausted or sick without relying on their child’s use of screens. As a result of adjustments in their child’s routine due to COVID-19 public health measures or, because their child was restless or fussy, mothers also expressed the need to compromise and allow their child more screen time. Moreover, they sought opinions or ideas from other caregivers for non-screen-based alternatives or leveraged the platform as a space to vent and share experiences.

Six barriers mothers faced when trying to limit their child’s screen time were identified from the five themes and 17 subthemes that emerged from this study. Additional themes and subthemes may have also contributed to increased child screen use, despite not being identified as distinct barriers. For example, posts demonstrated the normalization of screen time among mothers; mothers received reassurance from others that screen time was normal for children and that they should not feel bad about allowing it. While such reassurance may not have caused mothers to increase their child’s screen time, it is possible that this influence resulted in mothers no longer feeling like they needed to actively reduce it. Moreover, mothers shared that they often watched TV with their child in the same room or used their phone while their child was on their lap. Thus, while not definitively a factor that prevented mothers from reducing their child’s screen time, this theme suggests that mothers’ personal screen use might subject their children to increased secondary or background screen time.

Facilitators that supported or empowered mothers to reduce or limit their child’s screen use were also identified. These factors included sharing advice on how to limit screen time with other mothers (e.g., strategies, rules, techniques) and sharing examples of alternatives to screen use. A significant number of posts fell within these two subthemes which may indicate that social media platforms such as Reddit can positively support mothers in their quest to monitor and decrease their child’s screen use. As described previously, mothers of young children may experience negative emotions of guilt or shame when sharing their personal parenting challenges with others, and Reddit offers an opportunity to share their experiences without fear of judgment [22, 23]. Many mothers explained that they were surrounded by messages from the media, family members or peers about the ills of child screen time and the recommended screen exposure for their child. Such widespread awareness and sharing of the risks associated with screen time could be perceived to help motivate mothers to take action to limit their child’s screen use. However, most mothers were already aware of some of the health risks associated with screen use and felt they were trying their best to limit screen time as it was. Thus, receiving continuous input from others often caused them to feel guilty or overwhelmed. The individuals or media sources expressing these messages regarding child screen time may have meant to help mothers. However, such input may be perceived by mothers as shaming those who allow screen time, which can adversely influence their mental health and subsequently impact the child [35].

Future interventions designed to reduce the screen use of young children may be informed by the facilitators that help mothers reduce screen time uncovered in the current study, specifically, the sharing of information and advice amongst mothers on how to limit screen time and sharing examples of alternatives to screen use. For example, such interventions may be public health units or daycare/school communities designing an anonymous virtual program for parents to share tips and tricks. Due to the anonymous nature, this program could allow parents to feel comfortable and not fear judgement, asking questions and seeking advice from their peers with children the same age. However, in contrast to Reddit, such a platform could have the additional benefit of being specific to parents in one’s local area and daycare or school community. Regarding the discussion on how to support mothers with reducing screen time in the future, it is also essential to consider that, as identified in Theme 1, mothers frequently expressed their need to offer their child screens to afford themselves time to attend to their other obligations (e.g., schoolwork, cooking, and cleaning). Thus, screen time is utilized as a tool for mothers to manage their competing roles. This underlines the point that mothers often bear many responsibilities within their families, whether to themselves, their children, or the whole family unit. As such, future interventions implemented to reduce screen use amongst young children may also be created to mitigate maternal overwork or burnout or to offer mothers an alternative outlet to screen time to occupy or ‘babysit’ children while they attend to other tasks. Pre-pandemic, researchers examined the barriers and facilitators to reducing young children’s screen time. Barriers identified in past research have included the ubiquitous nature of screens (e.g., at home, school, daycare), screen use within children’s routine, the influence of other caregivers, the perceived addictive nature of screens, child enjoyment, lack of social network, weather, perceived health benefits, parent modelling or co-viewing, screen used as a babysitter, influence of other children, and parents’ other responsibilities (e.g., working, caring for elderly parents) [36, 37]. Compared to the results of the current study, some consistent barriers were noted, such as screens being embedded in the child’s routine, high child screen use with other caregivers, using screens as a babysitter, and other commitments or obligations for the parent. Regarding routines, the current study results focused specifically on increased screen use practices adopted due to the pandemic. Moreover, using screens as a babysitter was reflected in two themes: mothers used screens to occupy their children while they attended to their other obligations or when they took a moment to rest or engage in self-care practices). Parent modelling or co-viewing (i.e., the child observing parent screen use or engaging in screens with the parent), a barrier identified in pre-pandemic research, is similar to theme five in the current study. In this theme, mothers described their children being exposed to background or secondary screen time. While mothers did not mention mutually enjoying screens with their child (i.e., co-viewing), many did explain that their child was often in the room while they were using a screen, such as watching television. During these instances, the mother may be modelling screen use for the child, and although the child may not be attentively watching the screen, they may be glancing periodically, as was noted by some mothers.

Less surprising is that mothers’ mental and physical health emerged as a new factor that limited their ability to reduce their child’s screen time during the pandemic. Understandably, many posts regarding mothers’ physical health influencing children’s screen time were related to having COVID-19. Moreover, a study examining maternal mental health during the pandemic found that most mothers of young children experienced a decline in at least one aspect of their mental health [38]. Therefore, it is comprehensible that maternal mental health emerged as a new barrier to limiting young children’s screen time. When mothers experienced anxiety, depression, exhaustion, or burnout, they often relied on their child’s use of digital devices while they took a break to relax or rest, rather than having to entertain their children themselves. For example, mothers expressed allowing their children to watch TV while they attended a virtual psychotherapy session or engaged in their favourite exercise routine for self-care. This finding demonstrates that mothers’ mental health may influence children’s health behaviours, specifically screen time. Such information may inform future efforts that seek to reduce young children’s screen time, including interventions that focus on promoting maternal mental health, particularly during precarious events such as pandemic that can profoundly affect psychological well-being [39].

Lastly, mothers’ use of screens to soothe or calm their children or to encourage necessary behaviours (e.g., hygiene practices, eating) emerged as a new barrier not identified in pre-pandemic qualitative research. Mothers expressed that they offered their child more screen time if the child was acting fussy (i.e., whining, challenging to soothe), throwing a tantrum (i.e., extreme anger, upset, crying) or incentivize the child to eat or cooperate during hygienic practices (i.e., nail trimming or bathing). This finding is intriguing, as Raghunathan and colleagues [40] found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, children demonstrated a significant decline in self-regulation ability. Lower self-regulation was indicated by children showing poorer concentration, task engagement and persistence, and greater impulsivity than they did before the pandemic [40]. A similar finding was noted by Katzman [41], who attributed the notable decline in emotional and self-regulation abilities in young children during the pandemic to their lack of social interaction and increased screen use. Lower capacity for children to monitor their behaviour, de-escalate heightened emotions, or cope with stress [42], which are characteristics of child self-regulation, may have resulted in mothers relying more on screens to calm their children. In addition, since high levels of screen use may decrease a child’s self-regulation ability [5], it is necessary to consider how the use of screens to calm or soothe a child may not be helping a child regulate their behaviour or emotions. While screens may temporarily calm a child, as described by mothers, screens may be contributing to a decrease in children’s ability to regulate their emotions or behaviour, potentially resulting in increased reliance on screens in the future.

Earlier research examining parents’ perceptions of their child’s screen use indicated that some believed screens offered health benefits to their children, such as allowing them to relax or regulating their sleep patterns [37]. In contrast, posts related to screen time in the current study indicated that most mothers were aware of some potential risks associated with child screen time. Despite being aware of these associations, several mothers wanted more information regarding the nuances of the risks involved, as seen in Theme 5 and Subtheme 2.5 in this study. For example, many were confused regarding which screens “counted” toward their child’s daily screen time and wanted to know the implications of background or secondary screen viewing and specific communication apps like FaceTime. This finding may indicate an existing knowledge gap. Public health messaging may have effectively spread awareness to mothers regarding child screen time risks and time recommendations; however, mothers desire a greater understanding of the types of screen exposure or content associated with the most significant health risks for their children.

Furthermore, widespread messaging regarding the risks of screen time and the influence of the media, peers, or other family members led several mothers to feel guilty when offering screen time to their children, as seen in Subtheme 2.7. With this understanding, it may be beneficial for future public health efforts to move away from absolute thinking or rigid time restrictions. Instead, translating practical strategies that consider our current context and reliance on screen use could help mothers promote their child’s health and well-being within an increasingly virtual world. Recently, the CPS updated their screen time guidelines for children under five, moving away from rigid screen limits [1]. The CPS recommends avoiding screen time one hour before bed for children under five, prioritizing age-appropriate, educational, and interactive screen use, and prioritizing family media use over solitary screen use for children [1]. While such recommendations may allow mothers to make informed decisions regarding their children’s screen time, it is imperative that such information is properly disseminated and made accessible to all mothers.

Strengths and limitations

The strengths of the current study regarding the trustworthiness of the data collection and analysis can be assessed using Lincoln and Guba’s evaluative criteria for qualitative research [43]. Lincoln and Guba posit that the trustworthiness of qualitative research includes establishing transferability, credibility, dependability, and confirmability [43]. Transferability is achieved by offering readers descriptions of how the findings may apply to other contexts [44]. In the current study, this was done in the discussion by offering suggestions on how future interventions could utilize the results of the present study to minimize screen time for young children. Credibility refers to how congruent the findings are with reality [44]. In qualitative research, this can be achieved by investigator triangulation, whereby multiple researchers complete comparative analyses of the data [44]. This was undertaken in the current study as independent researchers were involved in screening posts for inclusion and establishing themes. Dependability encompasses how confidently readers can rely on the findings [44]. One mechanism to achieve dependability is through peer debriefing throughout the analysis process [44]. Moreover, confirmability refers to getting as close to objective reality as qualitative research can get [44]. Confirmability in qualitative research is assured when data are checked and rechecked throughout data collection and analysis to ensure results would likely be repeatable by others [44]. Both dependability and confirmability were achieved in the current study through open discussion amongst authors and research assistants to achieve consensus and mutual understanding regarding which posts would fit the inclusion criteria, which themes emerged, and how posts would be classified within each theme. In addition to the trustworthiness of data and analysis of the current study, a strength of this study is that anonymous discussion forums, like Reddit, allow people to engage in honest communication that may be difficult or sensitive to discuss in face-to-face settings [45, 46]. This study captured authentic emotions from mothers and offered unique insight into their perceptions regarding their young child’s screen use they may not have otherwise shared, perhaps out of embarrassment or shame. However, the utilization of anonymous social media platforms for research does have limitations. Collecting demographic information of participants was not possible. Although population-level data have not been reported for individual subreddits, most users of the Reddit app are from the United States [47]. While it has been indicated that users are relatively representative of the American population, there are differences between the general public and Reddit users [47]. For example, Barthel [47] found that Reddit users were more educated than the general population. Moreover, Hargittai [48] argues that those of higher socioeconomic status are more likely to be on social media; and therefore, their views may be oversampled in big-data research, such as that collected on the Reddit platform. The perspectives captured in the current study may be skewed to represent unique challenges faced by mothers who are more educated and are from a higher socioeconomic background than the general population. In addition, the platform’s anonymous nature can affect the content’s validity. It is also possible for Reddit users to provide false or dishonest information [49].

Conclusion

The results of this qualitative work posit that young children’s screen time may have been influenced by mothers’ mental and physical health experiences during the pandemic. Moreover, reasons why mothers’ relied on screen use through the pandemic varied greatly, from soothing or calming their child, to incentivising them to engage in bedtime routines (e.g., bathing, teeth brushing) or other necessary behaviours. As technology becomes increasingly embedded in children’s lives, interventions to reduce screen time should be tailored to address the needs voiced by caregivers who spend the most time with their children. Thus, future efforts to reduce young children’s screen time may aim to improve mothers’ mental health and well-being, so they can better take action to reduce their child’s screen time.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge and give thanks to research assistant’s Ameena Haddara and Aidan Loh for their time and commitment in screening Reddit posts for their inclusion for analysis in the current study.