Effect of school lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic on screen time among adolescents in Hungary: a longitudinal analysis

Front Public Health. 2023 Nov 30:11:1233024. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1233024. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Introduction: Studies indicate that due to school lockdown during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, screen time increased more steeply than pre-pandemic years. The aim of our study was to examine changes in screen time and its components (screen time spent on videos, games, homework, and other activities) of adolescents affected by COVID-19 school closures compared to controls from pre-pandemic years and to assess the effect of family structure and family communication.

Methods: Two sets of ninth-grader boys and girls transitioning into 10th grade were included in the analysis. The 'pre-COVID classes' (controls) completed the baseline survey in February 2018 and the follow-up survey in March 2019. 'COVID classes' (cases) completed the baseline survey in February 2020 (1 month before the COVID-19-related school lockdowns) and the follow-up survey in March 2021. Linear mixed models stratified by sex were built to assess the change in screen time over one year adjusted for family structure and communication.

Results: Our study population consisted of 227 controls (128 girls, 99 boys) and 240 cases (118 girls, 122 boys). Without COVID-19, overall screen time did not change significantly for boys, but there was a decrease in screen time for gaming by 0.63 h, which was accompanied by an increase of 1.11 h in screen time for other activities (consisting mainly of social media and communication). Because of the pandemic, all components increased by 1.44-2.24 h in boys. Girls' screen time and its components remained stable without school lockdown, while it increased for videos and homework by 1.66-2.10 h because of school lockdown. Living in a single-parent household was associated with higher, while better family communication resulted in lower screen time.

Discussion: Our results indicate that COVID-19-related school lockdowns modified the age-specific increase in screen time for boys and girls as well. This trend, however, may be counterbalanced by improving communication between family members.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescent; lockdown; longitudinal studies; quarantine; school closure; screen time.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Communicable Disease Control
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hungary / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Pandemics*
  • Schools
  • Screen Time

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The Balassagyarmat Health Education Program was supported by the European Union and the Hungarian State (grant number: EFOP-3.4.3-16-2016-00007). AdT was supported by project no. TKP2021-NKTA-47, implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NKTA funding scheme. Funding for the project through the National Cardiovascular Laboratory Program (RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00003) was provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund. This work was also supported by European University for Well-Being (EUniWell) program (grant agreement number: 101004093/ EUniWell/EAC-A02-2019 / EAC-A02-2019-1). The funding sources had no role in the interpretation of data, the writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication.