Problematic Screen Use in Preschool ChildrenNCT07728344
Effects of an SMS-Based Parenting Intervention on Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children
A study testing Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention and General Pediatric Health Education in people with Problematic Screen Use in Preschool Children and Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children, run by Anhui Medical University.
Trial summary
Excessive screen use and anxiety symptoms in preschool children have become increasingly prominent public health problems. This randomized controlled trial aims to determine whether, compared with a control group, an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via text messages and a WeChat public account… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 3 to 6 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Problematic Screen Use in Preschool Children, Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children, Social-emotional Behavior Problems in Preschool Children
- What is being tested?
- Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention and General Pediatric Health Education
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 356 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- Aug 2026to Mar 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 3 to 6 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Children between 3 and 6 years of age and their primary caregivers;
- The primary caregiver possesses a mobile phone with SMS-receiving capability, and is able to read and comprehend Chinese;
- Provide informed consent to participate in both the intervention and the study assessments.
Who cannot join
- The child has a diagnosed neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorder;
- The child is undergoing other forms of intervention or psychological therapy at the time of the study;
Trial locations and contacts
No sites are listed yet. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
About this study
Official title: Effects of a Mobile Health-Based Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention on Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool-Aged Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Excessive screen use and anxiety symptoms in preschool children have become increasingly prominent public health problems. This randomized controlled trial aims to determine whether, compared with a control group, an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via text messages and a WeChat public account can reduce screen use, anxiety symptoms, and social-emotional behavior problems in preschool children.
A total of 356 caregiver-child dyads with children aged 3 to 6 years will be randomly assigned to an intervention group with 178 dyads or a control group with 178 dyads. The intervention group will receive an ecological momentary parenting intervention, including text messages and posts on a WeChat public account, focusing on guidance for emotion recognition, anxiety soothing, establishing regular routines, and reasonable screen use management. The control group will receive only general pediatric health science popularization text messages, which do not include content related to child emotion management, anxiety intervention, or screen use management.
The primary outcome is children's anxiety symptoms, assessed by the Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale. Secondary outcomes include children's screen use assessed by the ScreenQ scale and social-emotional behavior problems assessed by the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-30 (SCBE-30)
- Conditions
- Problematic Screen Use in Preschool Children, Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children, Social-emotional Behavior Problems in Preschool Children
- Being tested
- Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention, General Pediatric Health Education
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Ecological Momentary Parenting InterventionBehavioural
Participants will receive an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via parenting text messages and posts on a WeChat public account. The intervention focuses on emotion recognition, anxiety soothing, establishing regular routines, and reasonable screen use management.
General Pediatric Health EducationOther
Participants will receive general pediatric health science popularization text messages that do not include content related to child emotion management, anxiety intervention, or screen use management.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention Group | Experimental | Participants receive ecological momentary parenting intervention via text messages and WeChat public account Receives: Behavioral: Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention |
| Control Group | Active comparator | Participants receive general pediatric health education text messages. Receives: Other: General Pediatric Health Education |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Preschool Anxiety Scale
The Preschool Anxiety Scale is a 28-item parent-reported measure of anxiety symptoms in preschool-aged children. Each item is scored from 0 to 4, yielding a total score ranging from 0 to 112. Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety symptoms
Measured: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Secondary outcomes (2)
ScreenQ Scale
The ScreenQ is a 16-item parent-reported measure of screen-based media use in young children. It assesses screen access, frequency of screen use, screen content, and caregiver-child co-viewing practices. Item scores are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 26. Higher scores indicate greater inconsistency with recommended screen-media practices
Measured: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-30
The Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-30 (SCBE-30) is a 30-item parent-reported measure of social-emotional competence and behavioral problems in preschool-aged children. Each item is rated from 1 to 6. The scale includes three 10-item subscales: Social Competence, Anger-Aggression, and Anxiety-Withdrawal. Each subscale score ranges from 10 to 60. Higher Social Competence scores indicate better social competence, whereas higher Anger-Aggression and Anxiety-Withdrawal scores indicate more severe behavioral or emotional problems
Measured: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted27 Jul 2026
- Study startAug 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionMar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionMar 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Problematic Screen Use in Preschool ChildrenStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 356 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Anhui Medical University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Bilin Zheng, Anhui Medical University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07728344
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- AHMU-2026-05-25
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 22 Jul 2026
- Last updated
- 27 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 27 Jul 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effects of a Mobile Health-Based Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention on Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool-Aged Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07728344
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- AHMU-2026-05-25
- Conditions
- Problematic Screen Use in Preschool Children, Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children, Social-emotional Behavior Problems in Preschool Children
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 356 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Anhui Medical UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Aug 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Mar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Mar 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 27 Jul 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Excessive screen use and anxiety symptoms in preschool children have become increasingly prominent public health problems. This randomized controlled trial aims to determine whether, compared with a control group, an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via text messages and a WeChat public account can reduce screen use, anxiety symptoms, and social-emotional behavior problems in preschool children.
A total of 356 caregiver-child dyads with children aged 3 to 6 years will be randomly assigned to an intervention group with 178 dyads or a control group with 178 dyads. The intervention group will receive an ecological momentary parenting intervention, including text messages and posts on a WeChat public account, focusing on guidance for emotion recognition, anxiety soothing, establishing regular routines, and reasonable screen use management. The control group will receive only general pediatric health science popularization text messages, which do not include content related to child emotion management, anxiety intervention, or screen use management.
The primary outcome is children's anxiety symptoms, assessed by the Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale. Secondary outcomes include children's screen use assessed by the ScreenQ scale and social-emotional behavior problems assessed by the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-30 (SCBE-30)
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention Group | Experimental | Behavioral: Ecological Momentary Parenting InterventionParticipants receive ecological momentary parenting intervention via text messages and WeChat public account |
| Control Group | Active comparator | Other: General Pediatric Health EducationParticipants receive general pediatric health education text messages. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 3 to 6 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Children between 3 and 6 years of age and their primary caregivers;
- The primary caregiver possesses a mobile phone with SMS-receiving capability, and is able to read and comprehend Chinese;
- Provide informed consent to participate in both the intervention and the study assessments.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- The child has a diagnosed neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorder;
- The child is undergoing other forms of intervention or psychological therapy at the time of the study;
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Ecological Momentary Parenting InterventionParticipants will receive an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via parenting text messages and posts on a WeChat public account. The intervention focuses on emotion recognition, anxiety soothing, establishing regular routines, and reasonable screen use management. | Behavioural | Intervention Group |
| General Pediatric Health EducationParticipants will receive general pediatric health science popularization text messages that do not include content related to child emotion management, anxiety intervention, or screen use management. | Other | Control Group |
Primary outcome
Preschool Anxiety Scale
Time frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
The Preschool Anxiety Scale is a 28-item parent-reported measure of anxiety symptoms in preschool-aged children. Each item is scored from 0 to 4, yielding a total score ranging from 0 to 112. Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety symptoms
2 secondary outcomes
ScreenQ Scale
Time frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-30
Time frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 27 Jul 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention and General Pediatric Health Education in people with Problematic Screen Use in Preschool Children and Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children, run by Anhui Medical University.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Bilin Zheng (+8618656665022, 18656665022@163.com), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Preschool Anxiety Scale (time frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Jul 2026.