Digital Technology Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Relations to Sleep Quality and Life Satisfaction in Children and Parents

Abstract

This research aimed to examine digital technology (DT) use,
sleep quality (SQ), and the correlations between these
variables in children and parents, in Croatia during the
lockdown. Furthermore, it aimed to determine parental life
satisfaction (LS) and its relation to DT use. In an online
questionnaire, 281 parents of children (3 to 14 years old)
provided information about the duration of DT activities
throughout the pandemic, compared to the time before the
pandemic, the time spent using digital devices in a typical
day, and SQ for themselves and their children, as well as the
estimates of personal LS. The results show that the relationship between DT use and SQ during the lockdown differs
between parents and children. More time spent using DT
devices is not related to SQ in parents, and more time spent
on smartphones is positively associated with parents' LS. In
children, the prolonged use of smartphones for leisure is
negatively linked to SQ. These results call for caution in
allowing children longer screen time.