Stages of Change for Screen Time Behavior among High School Female Students

Objective(s): The aim of this study is to understand stages of change for screen time behavior among high school female students. Methodology: Part of the study was an experimental randomized controlled trial used to guide this study. The study was conducted at Al-Wihdah High School for females in Al-Nasiriyah City. The study encompassed a simple random sample of 144 high school female students. The study instrument includes subjects sociodemographic characteristics of age, living arrangement, familys socioeconomic status. It also includes the Transtheoretical Model of Change measures of Stages of Change for Screen Time Scale (Short Form) which includes five questions, each question represents one of the Stages of Change for Screen Time. It also includes Stages of Change for Screen Time Scale (Continuous Measure), the Processes of Change for Screen Time Scale, the Self-Efficacy for Screen Time Scale, and the Decisional Balance Scale for Screen Time. Data were collected using a self-reported method for the period from November 1st, 2021 to April 10th, 2022. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for social science (SPSS) for windows, version 26. Results: The values of the Stages of Change of screen time use for the study group noticeably increase by time compared to the control group (Pretest = 76.47 vs. 68.87, Posttest II = 79.05 vs. 69.18, Posttest II = 81.15 vs. 66.90) respectively. Higher score means greater Stages of Change of screen time use. Conclusion: Subjects in the Action Stage of Change for screen time enjoy better Pros and Decisional Balance of refraining from excessive recreational screen time than those in the Preparation and Contemplation Stages of Change respectively.