Screen Time Exposure

Adolescents spend a large amount of time on screens, especially smartphones. Excessive screen use has been linked to health problems such as poor sleep, reduced physical activity, academic difficulties, and mental health issues. Primary care professionals often lack practical tools to help young people address this problem. This study aims to evaluate whether a dedicated medical consultation (DC), using a structured interview guide and a screening questionnaire (e-KID), can help adolescents aged 12 to 17 reduce and improve their screen use. When excessive screen exposure is identified, adolescents are offered a personalized consultation with a healthcare professional. Together, they discuss screen habits, health impacts, and set achievable goals to change usage patterns. The investigator hypothesizes that adolescents who receive this dedicated consultation by healthcare providers trained with a specific grid will better reduce their smartphone screen time and adopt healthier screen use habits compared to those receiving usual care.

This research proposal aims to explore the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on reducing young children's screen time (ST) and caring parents' psychological and social issues in Hong Kong.