Abstract
This study investigates the activities of young Saudi children during the COVID-19 lockdown, their variation by SES, and their association with children’s vocabulary development. Vocabulary assessments were conducted at the lockdown’s beginning and end for 158 children aged 8–36 months, divided into younger (8–16 months) and older (17–36 months) groups. The results reveal that shared reading frequency significantly predicts receptive vocabulary gains in the younger group and expressive vocabulary gains in both age groups. Conversely, parental screen media use negatively predicts receptive and expressive vocabulary gains in the younger group, while children’s screen time negatively predicts receptive vocabulary gains in the same group. The study findings offer insights into the home activities of Arabic-speaking infants and toddlers that have not been previously explored, even in pre-COVID normal times.
Published Version
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