Review History


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Summary

  • The initial submission of this article was received on April 15th, 2015 and was peer-reviewed by 2 reviewers and the Academic Editor.
  • The Academic Editor made their initial decision on May 8th, 2015.
  • The first revision was submitted on May 19th, 2015 and was reviewed by 2 reviewers and the Academic Editor.
  • The article was Accepted by the Academic Editor on June 3rd, 2015.

Version 0.2 (accepted)

· Jun 3, 2015 · Academic Editor

Accept

Authors have fully addressed all issues raised previously by reviewers.

·

Basic reporting

No comments.

Experimental design

No comments.

Validity of the findings

No comments.

Additional comments

The authors have done a satisfactory job of responding to my comments. Congratulations on the fine paper and contribution to the field!

·

Basic reporting

No comment.

Experimental design

No comment.

Validity of the findings

No comment.

Additional comments

No comment.

Version 0.1 (original submission)

· May 8, 2015 · Academic Editor

Minor Revisions

Please provide a point by point response that describes how and where in the revised manuscript each issue raised by Reviewer 1 and Reviewer 2 was addressed.

·

Basic reporting

This is a clearly and succinctly written paper. It is appropriately structured, with adequate background. The length of the paper, and number and content of tables, is appropriate.

Experimental design

This is an observational study that uses data from a cross-sectional national (Canadian) survey (the HBSC). The study question is fairly clear. One question is how families with non-parent caregivers (e.g., grandparents) are categorized. The statistical methods appear to be appropriate, but the description of methods has some gaps: what is the imputation model (e.g., what variables are included) for the multiple imputation? how many multiple imputed datasets were used? how many comparisons were included in the Bonferroni correction (e.g., were males and females, computer use and video game use counted separately or together)? were the CIs themselves adjusted for multiple comparisons? (This would be appropriate as they are apparently being used for tests.)

Validity of the findings

While the broad thrust of the conclusions seem reasonable, more care should be taken to avoid statements that assert a null result (as the methods were not geared to such a conclusion). An example (line 197) is "Youth from non-traditional families were also not more likely to exceed screen time...". A more well-founded statement would be "...not significantly more likely...", or "...not found to be more likely...".

Additional comments

A couple suggested edits:
Line 117: It seems weak to say "for the purposes of logistic regression". Rather the scientific question should determine the statistical model.
Line 124: "Potential covariates.." should presumable be "Potential confounders...", alternatively, "Potential covariates for the model of the relationship..."

·

Basic reporting

No comment

Experimental design

Lines 127-128: The description for the classification of "other" is confusing. I am assuming that to be considered other, both criteria of being of mixed race and self-identification as other is what is meant, but it reads as if someone could be classified as other if they meet only one of those criteria. If both criteria must be satisfied to be "other," it might read better as "which includes those of mixed ethnicity and who also self-identify as other."

Validity of the findings

Lines 212-215: Relating emotional well-being to screen time in families that include visitation with non-residential parents seems to be a more speculative leap as it is written. It would be helpful to that argument to include a source that has demonstrated a relationship between emotional well-being and screen time. Otherwise, I would consider not using the word "consistent" when tying the concepts together, and try something like "could be related to."

Additional comments

This is an interesting study. I recognize the limitations of the available survey data, but I would be interested for the future in what the results might look like if a wider age range were able to be included, particularly with inclusion of younger children. It would also be interesting to look at what the outcomes would be if controlling for body mass index (BMI). Lastly, there is no mention of same-sex parenting. I would consider identifying a reason for that, such as it is information not available in the survey data (another limitation of the study), or if there was purposeful exclusion, I would include a validated rationale as to why.

Typos noted:
Line 49: space missing between boys and (Gorely)
Line 112: missing parenthesis after etc and before the closing quotation mark

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