Psychometric properties of screen time questionnaire in children

Introduction: Nowadays, the long-term use of screens leads to physical, cognitive, and behavioral injuries in children. Aim: The present study was conducted to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the screen-time questionnaire in children. Method: The present is applied in terms of objective and developmental in terms of methodology. The statistical population of the study comprised 90 children aged 8-12 years in Mashhad in 2021-2022 who were selected based on availability sampling method. The research tools included the Screen-time Questionnaire (2019) and Conners' Questionnaire (1999). Test-retest reliability was used to measure the reliability of screen time questionnaire in children using the intra-class correlation coefficient and standard error of measurement. Moreover, the correlation between the scores of the components of the screen-time scale and the parental version of the Conners' questionnaire was checked to verify the convergent validity. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient values for the components of children's screen-time questionnaire on normal days of the week were between 0.80-0.92, weeknights between 0.79-0.90, and weekends between 0.78-0.85, while the use of the screen in the background was between 0.73-0.80. All these values indicated high reliability or favorable retest reliability of the screen-time questionnaire components in children. Furthermore, the results of convergent validity suggested that there is a positive and significant relationship between the components of the screen-time questionnaire and the lack of attention component at 0.01 level. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that the screen-time questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for the quantitative evaluation of the use of electronic-screen devices in Iranian children. Therefore, this tool can be used for research and clinical applications in the field of cognitive disorders related to children.