JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Automated wearable cameras present a new opportunity to accurately assess human behaviour. However, this technology is seldom used in the study of adolescent’s screen exposure and the field is reliant on poor quality, self-report data.

Objective:

To examine adolescents’ screen exposure by categorising the type and context of behaviours using automated wearable cameras.

Methods:

Adolescents (15.4 ± 1.6 years; n=10) wore a camera for three school evenings and one weekend day. The camera captured an image every 10 seconds. Fieldwork was completed between February and March 2020, and data analysed in August 2020. Images were date and time-stamped and coded for screen type, content, and context.

Results:

Data representing 71,396 images were analysed. Overall, 74% of images contained screens and 16.8% of total images contained multiple screens. Most screen exposure involved television sets (36.3% of images), smartphones (29.2%), and laptop computers (21.4%). The context of screen use differed by device type, although most screen exposure occurred at home (96.3%) and with solitary engagement (83.9%). The immediate after-school period saw high laptop computer use (30%), while smartphone use (38.7%) peaked in the middle evening and pre-bedtime hours, respectively. Weekend screen exposure was high, with smartphone use (55.5%) peaking in the early morning period and fluctuating throughout the day.

Conclusions:

There was evidence for high screen use during the after-school and weekend period, mostly through solitary engagement, and within the home environment. Findings may inform the basis of larger studies aimed at examining screen exposure in free-living conditions.