Parent-Administered Screen Time Intervention (PASTI) protocol: a pilot and feasibility randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Childhood screen time is on the rise and has been linked to changes in several developmental factors including toddler sleep and attention, two critical determinants of childhood health and cognitive function. Understanding the potential causal influence of screen time on toddler sleep and cognitive development (e.g., attention) is thus of the highest importance. Here, we propose the first pilot trial to assess the feasibility of implementing a Parent-Administered Screen Time Intervention (PASTI) in toddlers who have parent-reported screen time in the hour before bed. This is a blinded feasibility and pilot randomized control trial with three parallel intervention groups. PASTI will be compared to a bedtime box intervention and no intervention in toddlers. Feasibility outcomes including participation, intervention adherence, and follow-up rates will be assessed, as well as the acceptability of PASTI using quantitative and qualitative methods. This study will provide preliminary data to inform the design of a larger randomized control trial to investigate the impact of PASTI on toddlers’ sleep and attention. ISRCTN, ISRCTN58249751. Registered on 29 April 2022, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN58249751 Protocol version: V4, 14/06/2023.