Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background Screen-based sedentary behavior has become increasingly common among children and may adversely affect their physical and psychosocial health. This study aimed to examine hypothesized social cognitive associations with screen-based sedentary time among upper-grade primary school students, providing evidence for targeted interventions. Methods Our study used cross-sectional survey data collected from fourth- and fifth-grade students and their primary caregivers in Nanjing, China, in December 2025 (n = 1,465). The questions included basic demographic information, family-related information, screen-based sedentary time, parental self-efficacy, parental behaviors, and student cognitive factors (including outcome expectations, self-efficacy, and self-regulation). Guided by Social Cognitive Theory, structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized associations among parental factors, student cognitive factors, and student screen-based sedentary time. Bootstrap procedures with 5,000 resamples were used to estimate statistical indirect associations. Results The results showed that the median daily recreational screen-based sedentary time was 1.16 hours, and 61.0% of participants exceeded 1 hour per day. Significant differences in screen-based sedentary behavior were observed across only-child status, parental educational level, average monthly household income, family structure, and parenting style (all P < 0.05). Parental self-efficacy, parental behavior, student outcome expectations, student self-efficacy, and student self-regulation were all negatively associated with student screen-based sedentary time. Student self-regulation showed the strongest direct association with screen-based sedentary time (β = -0.360). Significant statistical indirect associations were observed between parental self-efficacy and screen-based sedentary time via parental behavior (β = -0.061), between parental behavior and screen-based sedentary time via student cognitive factors (student self-efficacy: β = -0.065; outcome expectations: β = -0.041; self-regulation: β = -0.082), and between student self-efficacy and screen-based sedentary time via outcome expectations (β = -0.049) and self-regulation (β = -0.076). Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of family-level factors and student cognitive regulation within an SCT-based framework for understanding screen-based sedentary behavior among upper-grade primary school students. These results provide valuable insights for future longitudinal studies and targeted intervention strategies aimed at reducing children’s recreational screen-based sedentary time.</p>