The Behavioral Effects of Mindfulness-Based Technology Use Training in Preschool Children

Overview

With the rapid advancement of technology, the use of digital devices has become widespread even in early childhood. While the conscious and controlled use of technology in the preschool period can contribute to children's development, prolonged and uncontrolled screen use can lead to various negative consequences such as sleep problems, attention issues, increased anxiety levels, and difficulties in social relationships. In particular, exposure to violent media content can cause children to perceive the world as more frightening and experience anxiety. Mindfulness-based training supports individuals in directing their attention to the present moment, recognizing their emotions, and accepting their experiences without judgment. Such training is known to develop self-regulation, attention, and emotional awareness skills in children. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of mindfulness-based technology use training applied to preschool children on their media usage habits, sleep patterns, fear levels, and parent-child relationship. The study is planned as a randomized controlled trial with an experimental design. The intervention group will receive mindfulness-based technology use training, while the control group will receive no intervention. The study expects that mindfulness-based training will reduce children's screen time, improve sleep quality, decrease fear levels, and strengthen parent-child relationships. This study aims to contribute to the development of intervention programs that support healthy technology use in early childhood.

The rapid advancement of technology has increased the use of portable and accessible devices, offering new opportunities not only for adults but also for individuals in early childhood. Particularly during the preschool education period between 36 and 72 months, children experience significant changes in their cognitive, physical, language, social-emotional, and sexual development. Technology is also a major environmental factor influencing children's development during this period. Conscious exposure to technological devices has been observed to contribute positively to children's preparation for school and cognitive development. However, the misuse of technology can lead to various negative consequences and negatively affect children's development. Children who spend long periods of time in front of screens may experience problems such as reduced sleep duration and difficulty falling asleep. Blue light, in particular, is associated with sleep problems by reducing the release of the hormone melatonin. There is an inverse relationship between delayed bedtimes and reduced sleep duration and screen-based media consumption. Furthermore, long periods spent in front of screens can also lead to problems such as attention deficit, poor command skills, and auditory attention deficit. For preschool children, prolonged screen use has been associated with cognitive activities, attention problems, aggressive behavior, physical inactivity, obesity, and sleep problems. Children frequently encountering content containing violence and aggression on screens can lead to them becoming desensitized to violence, a decrease in their ability to empathize, perceiving the world as a more frightening place, and exhibiting aggressive behavior towards others. Children affected by violent content on television begin to feel fear and anxiety, thinking that they may experience such content in real life. The center in children's brains that distinguishes between reality and unreality is not as differentiated as it is in adults. Children perceive situations that are not actually frightening as real situations and may be afraid. Mindfulness is defined as focusing attention on the present moment with a non-judgmental and accepting attitude and maintaining awareness of the current experience. Mindful awareness is defined as a state of being present in the current moment. This concept involves directing attention to what is happening at the present time, recognizing how attention is focused, and accepting observed experiences calmly and without judgment. On the other hand, mindfulness is defined as a unique capacity of consciousness that describes a person being aware of both their thoughts and actions in the present moment. Mindfulness-based educational programs aim to help children accept their emotions. Through various activities implemented in this process, children are helped to realize that experiencing feelings such as restlessness and occasional unhappiness are a natural part of everyday life. Particularly when encountering unpleasant emotions (e.g., sadness, anger, etc.), questions such as "How can we cope with these emotions?" and "Why do we sometimes feel these emotions?" are used to increase children's self-awareness of their emotions. In this regard, children are encouraged to accept that challenging emotions are a normal part of life, and this acceptance contributes to reducing their stress levels in daily life. Recent studies have shown that mindfulness practices in early childhood support the development of various skills, including self-regulation skills. In short, individuals with mindfulness direct their attention to the present moment, accept their experiences without judgment, and observe their internal processes, refusing to automatically continue their reactions. Mindfulness, which plays an important role in supporting physical and psychological health, not only develops an individual's emotion regulation skills but also enables them to exhibit more functional attitudes in daily life relationships, cope more effectively with problems, and increase their mental well-being, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction. Research findings examining the relationship between mindfulness levels, technology use, sleep quality, and fear levels suggest that these findings could serve as a basis for interventions aimed at reducing individuals' addictive behaviors, improving sleep quality, and reducing fear levels.