THE EFFECT OF GADGET USE INTENSITY ON TEMPER TANTRUM BEHAVIOR IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Pengaruh Intensitas Penggunaan Gawai Terhadap Perilaku Tantrum Anak Usia Dini
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36456/incrementapedia.vol8.no1.a11662Keywords:
early childhood, gadget use intensity, socio-emotional development, temper tantrumAbstract
Gadget use among young children has increased along with the development of digital technology in family life and education. Although gadgets can be used as entertainment and learning media, excessive use may affect children’s socio-emotional development, including the emergence of temper tantrum behavior. This study aimed to analyze the effect of gadget use intensity on temper tantrum behavior in early childhood. This research employed a quantitative approach with a causal design. The respondents were 113 parents or guardians of children aged 4–6 years in Cakung District, East Jakarta, selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected through a closed-ended questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale. Gadget use intensity was measured through indicators of duration, frequency, and types of content accessed by children, while temper tantrum behavior was measured through indicators of tantrum frequency, tantrum duration, and verbal and physical tantrum behaviors. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression with SPSS version 26. The results showed that gadget use intensity had a positive and significant effect on temper tantrum behavior in early childhood, with a significance value of 0.000 < 0.05. The correlation coefficient value of 0.807 indicated a strong relationship between the two variables, while the coefficient of determination value of 0.651 indicated that 65.1% of the variation in temper tantrum behavior could be explained by gadget use intensity. These findings indicate that the higher the intensity of gadget use, the higher the tendency for temper tantrum behavior to occur in young children. This study recommends the importance of parental and teacher supervision in regulating the duration, frequency, and types of digital content accessed by children to support healthy socio-emotional development.
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