The Effect of Maternal Depression on Screen Exposure in Early Childhood

Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology Vol.7 Issue.4

Doi:10.35365/ctjpp.25.4.08

RESEARCH ARTICLE / ARAŞTIRMA YAZISI

The Effect of Maternal Depression on Screen Exposure in Early Childhood

Erken Çocukluk Döneminde Ekran Maruziyetine Anne Depresyonunun Etkisi

Nurdan Aymelek Çakıl¹, Emine Aslanderen²

Abstract:

The study was conducted to determine the effect of maternal depression on screen exposure of children aged 12-72 months. Data for the descriptive study were collected from 11 Family Health Centers in a medium-sized city. Three hundred twenty-nine mothers aged 18-49 with at least one child aged 12-72 months were included in the sample. Data were collected using the Mother-Child Information Form and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. It was determined that 50.5% of the mothers in the study were between the ages of 25 and 34, 55.3% were unemployed, 51.7% of the employed worked during the day shift, and 61.4% received help with childcare. It has been found that mothers aged 35-42, working shifts, having an average income level, and having two children under the age of 6 are more depressed. 100% of participants had a television and a smartphone in their homes. It was determined that in addition to the living room, a television was also in the children’s room in 14% and in the kitchen in 54.1%. The median Beck Depression Inventory-II score of mothers who did not control the screen time and content of their children was found to be significantly higher. (z=-2.681, p=0.007; z= -3.308, p=0.001, respectively). The probability of children of mothers with moderate depression spending one hour or more on-screen time is higher than that of children of mothers with minimal and mild depression (χ2 =32,621, p = 0.000).  As a result, mothers’ depression levels affect their children’s screen exposure.

Keywords: Maternal Depression, Early Childhood, Screen Exposure.

* This study was produced from a master’s thesis.

¹PhD. Student, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Health Science, Department of Nursing, Kırşehir, Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id:  0000-0002-5765-7359

²MSc, Kırşehir Training and Research Hospital, Kırşehir, Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id:  0000-0002-9256-6057

Address of Correspondence/Yazışma Adresi: Nurdan Aymelek Çakıl, Kirsehir Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Health Science, Department of Nursing, Bağbaşı, Şht. Sahir Kurutluoğlu St. No:100, 40100 Downtown of Kırşehir, Türkiye.

Date of Received/Geliş Tarihi: 01.04.2025, Date of Revision/Düzeltme Tarihi: 23.07.2025, Date of Acceptance/Kabul Tarihi: 12.08.2025, Date of Online Publication/Çevirimiçi Yayın Tarihi: 15.12.2025

Citing/Referans Gösterimi: Çakıl, N. A. & Aslanderen, E. (2025). The Effect of Maternal Depression on Screen Exposure in Early Childhood. Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology, 7(4), 399-406.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Cyprus Mental Health Institute / Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology (www.ktppdergisi.com). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/