Father’s reading beliefs and child’s media usage habits

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between fathers’ reading beliefs and father’s and child’s media habits and book reading status in the preschool period. In total, 520 fathers with children aged 2–5 years were included in the study. “z score above+1” were defined as the High Parental Reading Scale Score (HPRSS). Moreover, 72.3% of fathers spent 3 hours or more with their children on a day, and 32.9% of fathers used the screen as a reward and 35% as a punishment. Multivariable analysis showed that spending more than 3 hours with their children, not using the screen as a reward, not using it as a punishment, knowing smart signs, getting information from a book, having a screen time less than 1 hour, not using screen alone, doing another activity when not allowed were associated with the HPRSS. The father’s reading belief is related to the child’s media usage habits.

KEYWORDS:

• Preschool children
• parental reading belief
• media usage

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all volunteers for participating in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authors’ contributions

ES, SSY contributed to the conception and design of the work. ES contributed to the acquisition of data. SSY performed the analysis. All contributed to interpretation of data for the work. ES, DAB prepared the manuscript. All gave final approval and agree to be accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. For access to the files, please send an e-mail request to [email protected].

Ethical approval and consent to participate

This study protocol was examined by Hacettepe University Medical Faculty Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee and was approved on 2 November 2021 (GO 21/1159). Fathers who participated in the study signed voluntary consent form. For this study, permission was obtained from Mamak Municipality with document numbered E-85156394-30.99 -00000646174 on 14 July 2021 and from Altındağ Municipality with document numbered E-82286560-100 -21611 on 21 April 2021.

Additional information

Funding

There is no financial support for the study.