Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing (ND)

Department

Nursing

First Committee Member

Kathleen Thimsen

Second Committee Member

Emily Boyce

Third Committee Member

Jill Schwartz

Fourth Committee Member

Jay Shen

Number of Pages

93

Abstract

Background: Excessive screen time among adolescents has been associated with negative health outcomes, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. Despite growing awareness, many parents lack sufficient understanding of these risks and their impact on adolescent well-being. This project evaluated whether a brief educational intervention improved parents’ knowledge of the health effects of excessive screen time. Methods: A pre-and post-survey design was used to assess changes in parents’ understanding following an educational video intervention. The educational intervention consisted of evidence-based content highlighting the impact of screen time on mental health and sleep. The survey measured knowledge, beliefs, behavioral intentions, and strategies for managing screen time. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including paired t-tests and McNemar’s test, to compare pre- and post-intervention responses. Results: Post-intervention scores showed statistically significant improvements across all outcomes. Knowledge increased from a mean of 3.977 (SD = 1.76) to 5.51 (SD = 0.94), t(99) = 7.94, p< 0.001, and beliefs increased from 4.01 (SD = 0.60) to 4.30 (SD = 0.56), t(99) = 5.53, p< 0.001. Parents also demonstrated significant increases in their intentions to implement screen-time management strategies, including setting limits, encouraging outdoor activity, establishing screen-free zones, modeling healthy digital habits, and using parental controls (all p< 0.001). The proportion of parents reporting “no changes planned” declined from 32% to 1%. Discussion: The educational intervention effectively improved parents’ knowledge, beliefs, and behavioral intentions related to screen-time management. These findings indicate that brief, evidence-based education delivered in a clinical setting may serve as a practical and scalable strategy for increasing parental awareness and promoting healthier technology habits within families.

Keywords

Adolescent screen time; Behavioral intention; Health education; Mental health; Parental knowledge; Sleep disturbances

Disciplines

Mental and Social Health | Public Health | Science and Mathematics Education

File Format

PDF

File Size

2100 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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