Disentangling the pathways of parent screen time and child behavior

Abstract

The topic of digital device usage is a growing area of importance as devices are increasingly becoming a part of daily life for people of all ages worldwide. The medical field has made recommendations on limiting screen use for young children. However, new data are emerging that goes beyond focusing on just child screen time. In this volume of The Journal, Wong et al disentangle the factors of parent screen time, distracted parenting, parent-child interactions, and child behaviors. They used data from 1254 parent-child dyads (mean child age 3.4 years) from disadvantaged backgrounds in Hong Kong and evaluated the use of parent and child electronic use, parent-child interactions, and children's psychosocial behavior. Results showed that increased parent technology use was associated with higher levels of distracted parenting, reduced parent-child interactions, increased child screen time, and psychosocial difficulties. Additionally, children's internalizing difficulties were related to parent's high use of digital devices primarily because of the reduction in parent-child interactions. Children's externalizing behavior was related to increased problematic parental device use through reduced parent-child interactions, distracted parenting, and increased child screen time. These results suggest that limiting parental use of electronics in front of young children may be beneficial and help foster child psychosocial development. Article page 258 ▸ Parent Technology Use, Parent–Child Interaction, Child Screen Time, and Child Psychosocial Problems among Disadvantaged FamiliesThe Journal of PediatricsVol. 226PreviewTo disentangle the pathways of parent technology use, parent–child interactions, child screen time, and child psychosocial difficulties among disadvantaged families in Hong Kong. Full-Text PDF