The relationship between screen time and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Chinese preschool children under the multichild policy: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Long screen time has become a public health problem that cannot be ignored. The association between screen time and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children has received widespread attention. METHODS: A questionnaire was used to survey 2452 people. ADHD symptoms were assessed by the Conners Child Behavior Scale. Considering that the ADHD symptoms of boys and girls might be different, we stratified the data by gender. Logistic regression model was used for regression analysis. To exclude the influence of multichild family and obesity level, we also conducted a sensitivity analysis. P values were two-tailed with a significance level at 0.05. RESULTS: The results showed that the association between screen time and ADHD symptoms in preschool children was significant (OR = 1.826, 95%CI: 1.032, 3.232). After grouping the genders, the correlation was not significant. There was an association between screen time and ADHD symptoms in children from families with multiple children. However, after excluding overweight and obese children from the overall population, the association between screen time and ADHD symptoms did not have statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The issue of screen time for preschoolers needs to be taken seriously. Although the results indicate a significant correlation between screen time and ADHD symptoms, clearer evidence is needed to provide recommendations to policy makers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-023-04130-x.