Influence of electronic products on temperament among preschool children in Yanbian area

  Objective  To examine the use of electronic products among preschool children in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (Yanbian) in Jilin province and to explore the impact of use of electronic products on the children′s temperament.

  Methods  We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey among main caregivers of 2 200 healthy children aged 3 – 6 years randomly recruited at 12 public kindergartens (6 for Han and 6 for Koreans ethnic children) in 5 counties/municipalities of Yanbian from October 2014 to August 2015. Information on general situation and the use of electronic products of the children were collected with a self-designed questionnaire and the temperament of the children was evaluated with Parent Temperament Questionnaire (PTQ) of New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS).

  Results  For the 1 473 children with valid information, 51.6% and 48.4% were girls and boys; 52.2% and 41.1% were Han and Korean; and the mean age of the children was 4.97 ± 1.07 years. Among the children, the average times of television watching per day was correlated positively with the activity level and response threshold and negatively with rhythmicity, adaptability, and distractibility (all P < 0.05); the age of initial exposure to electronic products was correlated positively with avoidance and negatively with activity level and reaction intensity (both P < 0.05). The time of each use of electronic product was correlated positively with activity level and negatively with distractibility (both P < 0.05); the time of playing with toys was positively correlated with persistence (P < 0.01); the daily outdoor activity time was positively correlated with distractibility (P < 0.05). Being in a core family was negatively correlated with the number of daily electronic product use (P < 0.01). The children′s month age of initial electronic product use, the frequency and time of daily electronic product use, and time of outdoor activity, reading and playing with toys did not significantly differ by gender, ethnicity, parental education, and family annual income.

  Conclusion  Usage of electronic products has an impact on preschool children′s temperament characteristics and the preschool children in core families have less use of electronic products.