The relationship between parental attitudes, media exposure, and sleep habits in preschool children

Purpose: The brain develops rapidly in early life, so sleep, media exposure and parental relationships are important topics for researchers during this period. The aim of this study was to examine the media exposure of children aged 3-6 years, in addition to their sleep habits and parental attitudes. Materials and Methods: Participants in this descriptive study, based on the relational screening model, were 70 boys (64.2%) and 39 girls (35.8%) aged between 3 and 6 years, and their parents, who had been seen at the child psychiatry outpatient clinic. The study used the following data collection instruments: Personal Information Form, Child Sleeping Habits Questionnaire and Parental Attitudes Scale, Internet Parenting Styles Scale. Results: This study, it was reported that 44% of children used tablets and 67% used mobile phones. Children who slept 6-9 hours had higher mean scores for sleep habits and sleep problems than those who slept 10 hours or more. The mean sleep habits scores of children who watched more than two hours of television per day were significantly higher than those of children who watched between one and two hours per day. Children who watched two or more hours of TV per day had lower mean parental control scores than other children. Children whose weekly use of digital devices was up to 8 hours had higher mean scores for both parental control and parental warmth than children whose weekly use was more than 8 hours Conclusion: A significant number of children were exposed to the media and an association was found between family attitudes, media use and children's sleep habits.