Adolescents’ screen time exposure and the associated physical and psychological factors: an urban–rural perspective
- 1Central Research and Publication Unit, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , ,
- 2Blooming Buds Centre for Pediatric Orthopaedics, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Centre , ,
- 3Department of Community Medicine, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , ,
Abstract
Background: Data exist on adolescents’ screen time behavior, but are lacking on urban–rural differences. We compared daily screen time exposures and associated anthropometric parameters, frequency of outdoor physical activity, and psychological parameters of urban and rural school-going adolescents.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Using five districts of one of the administrative divisions of a western Indian state as the sampling frame, the first two urban and first two rural schools were selected from a randomly reordered list of schools. We included 627 students from 5th, 7th, and 9th standards as representatives of the adolescent age group (10–19 years). Self-reported outdoor physical activity, psychological assessment using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and daily time spent on each were recorded. We determined associations between area of residence, frequency of outdoor physical activity, and SDQ scores and screen time using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of excessive screen time (>2 h/day). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.
Results: There were 334 (53.3%) urban and 293 (46.7%) rural students. The mean age was 12.5 ± 1.4 years. Mean daily total screen time was 111.9 ± 71.7 min. Urban compared to rural [121.5 ± 75.9 min vs. 100.9 ± 65.0 min; p = 0.001] and boys compared to girls [122.9 ± 81.9 min vs. 100.9 ± 58.0 min; p < 0.000] had longer total screen time exposure. Being a rural resident was significantly associated with a >2 days/week of outdoor physical activity [78.8% (rural) vs. 35.9% (urban), respectively; OR 6.64, 95% CI 4.64–9.51, p < 0.000]. Students with daily screen time of >2 h had some/high needs on the SDQ hyperactivity scale [11.4% vs. 5.7%; p = 0.022]. Males had significantly higher odds of >2 h of total daily screen time than females (aOR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.05–2.17; p = 0.026).
Conclusion: The associations between longer screen time exposure and worse physical and psychological factors warrant interventions with special attention to urban–rural differences.
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BibTeX
@article{oka2026adolescents,
title = {{Adolescents’ screen time exposure and the associated physical and psychological factors: an urban–rural perspective}},
author = {Gauri A. Oka and Ashish S. Ranade and Mayur K. Shinde and Madhuri P. Kasabekar and Prasad D. Pore},
journal = {Frontiers in public health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1908142},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13671922},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Adolescents’ screen time exposure and the associated physical and psychological factors: an urban–rural perspective
AU - Gauri A. Oka
AU - Ashish S. Ranade
AU - Mayur K. Shinde
AU - Madhuri P. Kasabekar
AU - Prasad D. Pore
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Frontiers in public health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1908142
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13671922
AB - Background: Data exist on adolescents’ screen time behavior, but are lacking on urban–rural differences. We compared daily screen time exposures and associated anthropometric parameters, frequency of outdoor physical activity, and psychological parameters of urban and rural school-going adolescents. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Using five districts of one of the administrative divisions of a western Indian state as the sampling frame, the first two urban and first two rural schools were selected from a randomly reordered list of schools. We included 627 students from 5th, 7th, and 9th standards as representatives of the adolescent age group (10–19 years). Self-reported outdoor physical activity, psychological assessment using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and daily time spent on each were recorded. We determined associations between area of residence, frequency of outdoor physical activity, and SDQ scores and screen time using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of excessive screen time (>2 h/day). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Results: There were 334 (53.3%) urban and 293 (46.7%) rural students. The mean age was 12.5 ± 1.4 years. Mean daily total screen time was 111.9 ± 71.7 min. Urban compared to rural [121.5 ± 75.9 min vs. 100.9 ± 65.0 min; p = 0.001] and boys compared to girls [122.9 ± 81.9 min vs. 100.9 ± 58.0 min; p < 0.000] had longer total screen time exposure. Being a rural resident was significantly associated with a >2 days/week of outdoor physical activity [78.8% (rural) vs. 35.9% (urban), respectively; OR 6.64, 95% CI 4.64–9.51, p < 0.000]. Students with daily screen time of >2 h had some/high needs on the SDQ hyperactivity scale [11.4% vs. 5.7%; p = 0.022]. Males had significantly higher odds of >2 h of total daily screen time than females (aOR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.05–2.17; p = 0.026). Conclusion: The associations between longer screen time exposure and worse physical and psychological factors warrant interventions with special attention to urban–rural differences.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -