Preliminary Exploration of Parental Perspectives on Navigating Nomophobia and Screentime for Young Children

This study explores screen time usage among children aged 3 to 6 years from a parental perspective, focusing on usage patterns, behavioral impacts, and parental attitudes. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining structured questionnaires (n=30) with interviews to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Results show that children spend an average of 2.5 hours on screen time daily, with the 1–2 hours range being most common among three and four-year-olds. Correlation analysis revealed strong associations between screen time and irritability (r = 0.65), and a moderate relationship with trouble focusing (r = 0.55). Multiple regression analysis identified screen time duration as a significant predictor of negative behavior (β = 0.30, p < .01), followed by parental age (β = 0.18, p < .05), child age (β = 0.14, p < .05), and even educational content (β = 0.09, p < .05). These predictors accounted for 64% variance in negative behaviors among children. Sentiment analysis revealed themes of educational benefits, screen-time balance, enforcement challenges, and modeling behavior. These findings highlight the nuanced role of screen media in early childhood development and underscore the need for active parental mediation and informed policy recommendations.