Recreational Screen Time Use among a Small Sample of Canadians during the First Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Background: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused disruptions in the daily lives of individuals in Canada. Purpose: Examine how total and specific (i.e., watching television, using social media, going on the Internet, playing video games, and engaging in virtual social connection) recreational screen time behaviours changed throughout the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, in comparison to pre-pandemic levels; (2) Methods: Sixty four Canadians (mostly Caucasian, female, age range = 21-77 years) completed monthly surveys from April to September of 2020; (3) Results: A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) and subsequent post hoc analysis revealed that total recreational screen time was statistically higher in late March/April (292.5 min/day +/- 143.0) and into May, compared to pre-COVID-19 (187.8 min/day +/- 118.3), before declining in subsequent months; (4) Conclusions: Generally, specific recreational screen time behaviours, such as time spent watching television, followed the same trend. Future studies with larger sample sizes and from other countries examining recreational screen time behaviours longitudinally over the pandemic are still needed to allow for greater generalizability.

Automated summary

This study examined the changes in recreational screen time behaviors among Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that total and specific screen time increased in the early stages of the pandemic before declining. Future research with larger sample sizes and from multiple countries is needed for greater generalizability.