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ABSTRACT
The objective of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship between screen time (ST) and children’s motor proficiency. The amount of time 113 children spent watching television, using a computer, and playing video games as reported by parents at ages 4, 5, and 7 was measured and children’s motor skills were evaluated at age 7 with the short version of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition. The results revealed that children who spent more time in front of a screen at age 4 also do so at ages 5 and 7. A negative relationship was observed between ST at ages 4, 5, and 7 and motor proficiency at age 7. Mediation analysis suggested that the negative effect of ST at age 4 on motor competence was mediated by ST at age 7. This result emphasizes the adverse influence of ST stability on motor proficiency.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the children and their parents for participating in this study. The authors thank Jill Vandermeerschen for the statistical analysis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Geneviève Cadoret holds a research and teaching position at the Department of physical activity sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Her research focuses on motor and cognitive child development, with a particular focus on motor activities in the classroom and sensorimotor practices in kindergarten.
Nathalie Bigras is scientific director of the FRQSC research team ‘Qualité des contextes éducatifs de la petite enfance’, studying the educational quality of childcare centres and childcare services. She is conducting international studies on the quality of childcare services and the best means of improving the quality of these services. Her research focuses on children development in educational childcares and access to educational childcare services for disadvantaged families.
Lise Lemay holds a research and teaching position at the Department of didactics at the University of Quebec in Montreal. She is an active researcher in understanding the role of play in different educational contexts of early childhood.
Joanne Lehrer holds a research and teaching position at the Department of education at the University of Quebec in Outaouais. Her research focuses on parental perceptions of child care quality in centre-based and home-based settings and parent and teacher perceptions of transition practices in kindergarten.
Julie Lemire is a data analyst in the research team ‘Qualité des contextes éducatifs de la petite enfance’. Her research focuses on measuring quality of educational settings.