Characteristics of Children's Media Use and Gains in Language and Literacy Skills.

Rebecca A Dore,Kelly M Purtell,Tzu-Jung Lin,Jessica Logan,Laura Justice

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02224

Abstract

Media use could be detrimental to children’s language and literacy skills because it may displace other language-enhancing activities like shared reading and caregiver-child interactions. Furthermore, the extent to which children use media with adults (joint media engagement), the extent to which they use interactive media (apps/games), and the time of the day and week during which media use occurs may attenuate any negative effects. The current study examines the relation between characteristics of children’s media use and gains in first graders’ language and literacy skills. Children (N = 488) completed direct assessments of language and literacy skills in the spring of kindergarten and the spring of first grade. Parents reported how many hours children used both interactive and non-interactive media during different times of the day on the most recent weekday and weekend day and responded to items about the extent to which they engage with their children during media use. A quadratic relationship between media use and language gains showed that a moderate amount of media use was related to larger language gains, whereas high use was related to smaller gains. For literacy, an interaction between media use and joint media engagement showed a small negative effect of media use at low levels of joint media engagement and little to no relation between media use and literacy gains at higher levels of joint media engagement. Children’s language and literacy skills were not predicted by either the proportion of media time that was spent with apps/games or morning and weekday media use. These results show that moderate amounts of media use may not be a negative influence on children’s developing language skills, whereas high levels may displace other language-enhancing activities. Additionally, joint media engagement may play an important buffering role in the relation between media use and early literacy skills, aligned with current recommendations encouraging co-viewing.

Highlights

Popular press coverage often highlights studies showing associations between how many hours of “screen time” children are exposed to and negative outcomes, potentially fueling concerns among parents and caregivers about their children’s use of media and technology
We found that for language, the effect of media use differed by the level of use: children who used a moderate amount of media had the largest language gains, whereas both the lowest and the highest levels of media use are associated with smaller language gains
Our results for literacy showed that the association with media use depended on joint media engagement, such that when joint media engagement was low, media use was negatively related to literacy gains, but at high levels of joint engagement, this relation was not present

Summary

Introduction

Popular press coverage often highlights studies showing associations between how many hours of “screen time” children are exposed to and negative outcomes, potentially fueling concerns among parents and caregivers about their children’s use of media and technology. Taylor et al (2017) reported on an upper-socioeconomic status (SES) sample of children in the United Kingdom and found that TV and mobile device use was not predictive of children’s vocabulary skills for children between 6 and 36 months of age. In both of these studies time spent being read to was associated with language ( only for 6‐ to 18-month-olds in Taylor et al.), suggesting that the variability in children’s vocabulary scores was meaningful and associated with other characteristics of the home environment. This represents a critical gap in our understanding and precludes the development of evidenceinformed recommendations

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Results

Conclusion