Over recent years, there are growing literatures associating screen time with
physical and psychological adverse consequences. Excessive and regular
exposure to electronic device had shown to influence brain development,
affecting language and social competences. This study investigated different
types of screen time and its effect on social and emotional development
among pre-schooler in Labuan. This was a cross-sectional self-report survey
with 143 parents with child aged between 4 to 6 years old. The Strengths and
Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used in identifying emotional and
behavioural problems among these children. Descriptive statistics were
calculated, and associations were examined using the Fisher FreemanHalton Test. Results indicated that the majority (51%) of the pre-schoolers
were exposed to screen time through the use of smartphones. Most or 43.5%
spend an average of 2 to 3 hours on-screen during weekdays and it was found
that screen time among pre-schoolers was increased during the weekend.
There is no significant relationship found between parents’ demographic
characteristics and screen time exposure among preschoolers (p> 0.05) and
no association was found between a child’s demographic profiles with social
and emotional development (p>0.05). However, the study showed that there
is a significant association between average screen time spend during
weekdays with social and emotional development (p= 0.021). In conclusion,
different types of screen time did not affect the social and emotional
development among preschoolers, but excessive usage may still have the
tendency to affect negatively. Future study should better account for the
methodological limitations of the extant studies to seek to understand the
prolonged effects of excessive screen-times among preschoolers.