Parental monitoring of on-screen content and psychosocial symptoms among school-aged children in Indonesia: a cross-sectional study

Screen use in childhood has been linked to emotional and behavioural difficulties, but these links may depend on screen time, content type, and parental supervision. Evidence from Indonesia, where most children under 13 years use the internet, is scarce. Therefore, this study examined whether parental monitoring of children’s screen content was associated with psychosocial symptoms after accounting for screen time, content type, and family characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 147 children aged 6–13 years at one public elementary school in Surabaya, Indonesia, from January to March 2026. Parents completed a questionnaire on restrictive monitoring, co-viewing, active monitoring, screen time, and content types. Psychosocial symptoms were screened with the parent-reported Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17). Spearman correlation, multiple linear regression, and sensitivity analyses were performed. Seven children (4.8%) screened positive on the PSC-17 total score. In bivariate analyses, active monitoring showed the strongest negative correlation with PSC-17 scores (rₛ = −0.54; p < 0.001) and average screen time showed the strongest positive correlation (rₛ = 0.58; p < 0.001). After adjustment, restrictive monitoring (B = − 1.83; 95% CI − 2.90 to − 0.77; β = −0.22; p = 0.001) and active monitoring (B = − 1.77; 95% CI − 2.99 to − 0.56; β = −0.16; p = 0.005) were associated with lower scores (fewer symptoms), whereas screen time above 2 h/day was associated with higher scores (B = 1.90; 95% CI 0.60 to 3.19; β = 0.17; p = 0.004). Entertainment content, age-inappropriate content, and social media were associated with higher scores, and educational content with lower scores. Sensitivity analyses supported the associations for active monitoring and screen time, whereas those for restrictive monitoring and co-viewing depended largely on 13 children whose parents reported unfollowed rules and rare co-viewing. Parental monitoring, particularly discussing content with children, was associated with fewer parent-reported psychosocial symptoms, and longer screen time with more symptoms. As the study was cross-sectional and based on one school, these associations are not causal. Parents may benefit from advice to talk with children about what they watch, not only to limit screen time. Longitudinal studies with validated measures are needed. Not applicable.