Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
24th International Eastern Mediterranean Family Medicine Congress (EMFMC2025), Adana, Türkiye, 8 - 11 Mayıs 2025, ss.451-459, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
Introduction: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a nationwide lockdown was implemented in Turkey from May 23 to 26, 2020, and the following weekend. School closures and the obligation to stay at home during the lockdown created an environment where children were exposed to media devices more frequently than usual. This study aimed to investigate changes in children’s exposure to media devices during the COVID-19 lockdown and explore parental perspectives on the effects of media device use on children.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between May 23 and June 12, 2020. An online questionnaire, prepared based on a literature review, was administered to parents of children aged 0-18 years via email and WhatsApp groups. Sample size calculation was performed using Open Epi, determining a required sample of 384 participants with a 95% confidence interval. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: A total of 394 parents participated, 333 of whom (84.5%) were women, with a mean age of 37.1±6.6 years. Parents reported that their children’s media device usage increased during the lockdown compared to the pre-pandemic period (p<0,001), with the most significant increase observed in computer use. No significant relationship was found between parental education level and children’s media device usage. The most common activities used to reduce media use were reading books (78.9%) and drawing/painting (77.4%). More than half of the parents stated that during the lockdown, media devices were increasingly used for communication with acquaintances (66.5%), education (59.1%), entertainment (69.5%), playing games (57.6%), and watching cartoons (65.6%). Nearly half (48.2%) reported using media devices to keep their children occupied while doing household chores. Additionally, more than half of the parents indicated that media use increased their children’s understanding of the pandemic process (65.5%) and ways to prevent infection (74.9%).
Conclusion: Exposure to media devices increased during the COVID-19 lockdown. Regardless of educational background, all parents should be made aware of potential negative effects to protect children from overexposure.