Background: Excessive screen time in young children is a growing concern in the digital age. It is important to explore parental beliefs and practices that could shape children’s screen time routines. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 3624 parents of children aged 2–5 years from five northern Indian states between July and October 2024. The participants completed a validated questionnaire assessing sociodemographic factors, children’s screen time duration, parental beliefs and practices related to screen time regulation (guidelines and enforcement), screen use purposes (eg, feeding, chores) and perceived impacts on child development (eg, social skills, attention, speech/language). Data analysis included χ ² tests and multinomial logistic regression to identify associations between variables. Results: Over 60% of the children spent 2–4 hours daily on screens, with no significant associations between weekday–weekend screen time patterns and sociodemographic factors. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that the odds of excessive screen use were greater among children whose parents were unsure of whether restrictions should be set (AOR=3.03 for 4–6 hours), those whose parents did not set screen time limits (AOR=1.64 for 4–6 hours and AOR=2.07 for >8 hours), those whose parents used screens during feeding (AOR=1.82 for 2–4 hours; AOR=2.66 for 4–6 hours, AOR=2.79 for 4–8 hours and 3.54 for >8 hours) and those whose parents did not believe that screen time hindered speech and language development (AOR=1.77 for 2–4 hours and AOR=2.11 for 4–6 hours). Conclusion: Parental factors, including the absence of screen time limits and the cultural use of screens during mealtimes, contribute to excessive screen time. Interventions in India should focus on practical programmes that support parents in managing screen time, tailored to regional and cultural contexts.

Background: This scoping review aimed to systematically identify communication strategies used during Joint Media Engagement (JME) and examine their associations with developmental outcomes and contextual factors. Methods: A systematic search of seven databases (up to April 2025) was conducted using Rayyan, following PRISMA-ScR guidelines; 26 studies met inclusion criteria and were synthesized to categorize parent communication strategies and their theoretical underpinnings. Results: Fifteen distinct communication strategies were identified and organized into four theoretical frameworks; Social Learning, Sociopragmatic, Behaviourist, and Theory of Mind along with a fifth category for technical scaffolding. Strategies aligned with Social Learning were most frequently reported and consistently associated with improvements in children’s language, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes. Findings also showed that JME strategies vary based on contextual factors, including parent type, geography, device type, media content, and child characteristics. Although most studies did not explicitly focus on JME, those employing mixed methods provided deeper insights. Conclusions: JME is shaped by both interaction quality and context, with Social Learning-based strategies playing a central role in supporting child development. The findings highlight the need for more rigorous, JME-focused research across diverse digital formats to strengthen the evidence-based parent coaching approaches to optimize JME practices in early childhood.

Background: Joint media engagement (JME) is recognized as a relational process involving shared participation, media context, and parent–child interaction. This scoping review aimed to identify methods used to evaluate JME and examine the extent to which questionnaire-based measures capture its joint, media, and engagement characteristics. Methods: A search of 6 databases up to May 2025 was conducted following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Fifty included studies were synthesized to identify evaluation methods, questionnaire characteristics, and reported psychometric properties. Results: JME was evaluated using questionnaires, observations, interviews, diaries, and qualitative methods, with questionnaires being the predominant approach. Questionnaires varied considerably in conceptual coverage. Most captured only one or two JME characteristics, while few integrated all three. Joint characteristics commonly emphasized co-presence or co-viewing frequency; media characteristics addressed devices, activities, or content; and engagement characteristics included cognitive, affective, and technical or physical scaffolding. Many Questionnaires originated from parental-mediation literature and emphasized active or restrictive mediation. Psychometric evaluation was limited and inconsistently reported. Conclusions: Existing Questionnaires capture important JME-related practices but rarely represent JME as an integrated relational process. The findings support developing a psychometrically robust, multidimensional measure that connects participants, media context, and engagement quality and is validated across developmental, cultural, and digital contexts.