Electronic device usage among preschool children and its association with mental health status in Saudi Arabian kindergartens

Siham O. Al-Mehmadi; Abdulrahman T. Halawani; Mrnan T. Sulaimani; Tamim O. Al-Mehmadi

doi:10.15537/smj.2024.45.9.20240354

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Table 1

- Sociodemographic characteristics of the children (categorical variables).

Characteristics	n	%
Gender
Girls	205	51.4
Boys	194	48.6
Nationality
Saudi	373	93.5
Non-Saudi	26	6.5
Kindergarten (KG) level
KG 1	23	5.8
KG 2	56	14.0
KG 3	320	80.2
Family income in Saudi Riyals
<5000	112	28.1
5000 to <10,000	157	39.3
10,000 to <15,000	92	23.1
≥15,000	38	9.5
Living status
Both parents	362	90.7
One of them	35	8.8
Relatives	2	0.5
Marital status of parents
Divorced	30	7.5
Married	365	91.5
Widowed	4	1.0
Chronic disease
No	391	98.0
Yes	8	2.0
Electronic device (ED) usage
No	34	8.5
Yes	365	91.5
Owning ED
No	230	57.6
Yes	169	42.4
Number of hours using an ED
≤1 hour	104	26.1
>1 hour	295	73.9

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Table 2
- Sociodemographic characteristics of the children (continuous variables).
Variables Minimum Maximum Mean SD
Father’s age in years 23.0 90.0 40.3 7.7
Mother’s age in years 22.0 49.0 34.6 5.55
Number of hours using an ED 0 12 3.1 2.3
Child age in years 3.0 6.0 5.15 0.6
ED: electronic device, SD: standard deviation

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Table 3

- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores categorization among preschool children in Makkah city.

Scores	Close to average n (%)	Slightly raised n (%)	High n (%)	Very high n (%)
Emotional problem score	229 (57.4)	52 (13.0)	43 (10.8)	75 (18.8)
Conduct problem score	302 (75.7)	42 (10.5)	31 (7.8)	24 (6.0)
Hyperactivity problem score	334 (83.7)	30 (7.5)	17 (4.3)	18 (4.5)
Peer problem score	246 (61.7)	67 (16.8)	47 (11.8)	39 (9.8)
Prosocial score	366 (91.7)	23 (5.8) ^*	6 (1.5) ^**	4 (1.0) ^***
Total difficulty score	293 (73.4)	41 (10.3)	31 (7.8)	34 (8.5)

↵* Slightly lowered,
↵** Low;
↵*** Very low

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Table 4

- Correlations between number of hours spent using EDs and SDQ scales among preschool children in Makkah city.

Scores	Number of hours spent using an ED
Scores	Correlation coefficient (r)	P-value
Emotional problems score	0.200	<0.001
Conduct problems score	0.149	0.003
Hyperactivity score	0.279	<0.001
Peer problems score	0.104	0.038
Prosocial score	-0.128	0.011
Total difficulties score	0.263	<0.001

ED: electronic device

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Table 5

- Factors associated with Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores among preschool children in Makkah city.

Variables	Emotional problems score: mean (SD)	Conduct problems score: mean (SD)	Hyperactivity score: mean (SD)	Peer problems score: mean (SD)	Prosocial score: mean (SD)	Total difficulties score: mean (SD)
Gender
Boys	2.5 (2.1)	2.5 (1.7)	3.3 (2.1)	2.35 (1.5)	8.4 (1.5)	10.7 (5.3)
Girls	2.6 (2.2)	2.4 (1.85)	3.1 (2.2)	2.3 (1.5)	8.8 (1.3)	10.4 (5.8)
P-value	0.712	0.709	0.343	0.547	0.006	0.607
Child nationality
Saudi	2.8 (2.0)	2.6 (1.85)	3.3 (2.45)	2.2 (1.6)	8.9 (0.9)	10.9 (5.9)
Non-Saudi	2.5 (2.15)	2.5 (1.8)	3.2 (2.2)	2.3 (1.5)	8.6 (1.4)	10.5 (5.5)
P-value	0.484	0.753	0.911	0.689	0.058	0.761
Chronic disease
Yes	1.9 (1.45)	2.6 (2.1)	3.0 (1.6)	2.25 (1.3)	8.4 (1.5)	9.75 (4.65)
No	2.6 (2.15)	2.5 (1.8)	3.2 (2.2)	2.3 (1.5)	8.6 (1.4)	10.6 (5.6)
P-value	0.361	0.804	0.771	0.913	0.655	0.676
ED usage
Yes	2.6 (2.15)	2.5 (1.8)	3.2 (2.15)	2.3 (1.5)	8.6 (1.4)	10.55 (5.5)
No	2.1 (2.0)	2.3 (1.6)	3.7 (2.5)	2.5 (1.5)	8.55 (1.6)	10.6 (5.85)
P-value	0.239	0.611	0.207	0.445	0.886	0.927
Owning an ED
Yes	2.5 (2.1)	2.4 (1.9)	3.1 (2.3)	2.3 (1.7)	8.6 (1.4)	10.35 (5.85)
No	2.6 (2.2)	2.5 (1.6)	3.3 (2.1)	2.3 (1.4)	8.6 (1.4)	10.7 (5.3)
P-value	0.892	0.448	0.468	0.842	0.824	0.520
Number of hours using an ED
≤1 h	2.2 (2.0)	2.3 (1.7)	2.7 (1.9)	2.3 (1.4)	8.9 (1.2)	9.4 (5.2)
>1 h	2.7 (2.2)	2.5 (1.8)	3.4 (2.25)	2.3 (1.6)	8.5 (1.4)	11.0 (5.6)
P-value	0.041	0.156	0.003	0.706	0.002	0.015
KG level
KG 1	2.9 (2.1)	2.95 (2.2)	3.65 (2.85)	2.5 (1.6)	8.3 (1.5)	12.0 (6.6)
KG 2	2.5 (2.1)	2.9 (2.1)	3.2 (2.2)	2.35 (1.7)	8.55 (1.45)	10.9 (6.3)
KG 3	2.5 (2.1)	2.4 (1.6)	3.2 (2.1)	2.3 (1.5)	8.6 (1.4)	10.4 (5.3)
P-value	0.778	0.123	0.625	0.748	0.560	0.458
Family income in SR
<5000	2.75 (2.2)	2.4 (1.8)	3.3 (2.1)	2.45 (1.5)	8.8 (1.4)	10.9 (5.9)
5000 to <10,000	2.6 (2.2)	2.45 (1.7)	3.2 (2.05)	2.3 (1.5)	8.5 (1.4)	10.6 (5.5)
10,000 to <15,000	2.4 (2.0)	2.6 (1.8)	3.15 (2.5)	2.1 (1.6)	8.35 (1.3)	10.3 (5.6)
≥15000	2.3 (1.8)	2.5 (1.7)	2.9 (2.2)	2.4 (1.5)	8.7 (1.3)	10.15 (4.7)
P-value	0.642	0.858	0.793	0.503	0.079	0.835
Child lives with
Both parents	2.6 (2.2)	2.5 (1.75)	3.25 (2.2)	2.3 (1.5)	8.6 (1.4)	10.6 (5.6)
One of them	2.3 (1.8)	2.25 (1.9)	2.9 (2.1)	2.3 (1.55)	8.85 (1.4)	9.85 (4.9)
Relatives	4.0 (2.8)	3.0 (2.8)	2.5 (0.70)	4.0 (0.0)	9.5 (0.7)	13.5 (6.4)
P-value	0.501	0.696	0.650	0.288	0.311	0.562
Marital status
Married	2.6 (2.1)	2.5 (1.7)	3.2 (2.2)	2.3 (1.5)	8.6 (1.4)	10.6 (5.5)
Divorced	2.5 (2.3)	2.4 (2.1)	3.3 (2.2)	2.4 (1.7)	8.8 (1.5)	10.6 (5.9)
Widowed	3.0 (2.2)	2.0 (2.4)	1.5 (1.0)	3.25 (0.95)	9.75 (0.5)	9.75 (5.7)
P-value	0.893	0.842	0.285	0.410	0.160	0.958

ED: electronic device, h: hour, SD: standard deviation, KG: kindergarten

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Table 6

- Multiple linear regression, association between number of hours and prosocial score with control for gender.

Model		Unstandardized coefficients	Sig.	95.0% Confidence interval for B		Collinearity statistics
Model		B	Sig.	Lower bound	Upper bound	Tolerance	VIF
1	(Constant)	8.455	0.000	7.99	8.92
	Gender	0.243	0.077	-0.027	0.513	1.000	1.000
	Number of hours using an ED	-0.075	0.011	-0.13	-0.02	1.000	1.000