Do parent media habits contribute to child global development?
Background/objectiveParents of preschoolers’ report using screen media frequently. More frequent screen use by parents may undermine child development by displacing time for foundational parent-child interactions. The objective of the present study is to examine the extent to which parent screen use...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279893/full |
| _version_ | 1797359959690706944 |
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| author | Caroline Fitzpatrick Caroline Fitzpatrick Alexa Johnson Angélique Laurent Mathieu Bégin Elizabeth Harvey |
| author_facet | Caroline Fitzpatrick Caroline Fitzpatrick Alexa Johnson Angélique Laurent Mathieu Bégin Elizabeth Harvey |
| author_sort | Caroline Fitzpatrick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/objectiveParents of preschoolers’ report using screen media frequently. More frequent screen use by parents may undermine child development by displacing time for foundational parent-child interactions. The objective of the present study is to examine the extent to which parent screen use contributes to child global development 1 year later.MethodsData are from a cohort of 315 preschoolers from Nova Scotia, Canada and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents reported the number of hours per day they spent using screens, as well as child screen time and sex, and parent educational attainment. Our outcome is child global development scores, which combine assessments of communication, cognitive, personal-social, and motor skills measured at 4.5 using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) (N = 249, 79% retained).ResultsParents in our sample spent on average 6.35 h per day using screen media outside of work (SD = 3.07) and children spent on average 3.43 h per/day using screens. Multivariate linear regression indicated that each 1-h increase in parents daily screen media use, corresponded to a 1.25 decrease in child global development scores, B = −1.25 p < 0.05, 95% CI between −2.37 and −0.13.ConclusionOur results indicate that parent screen use may represent a key component of children’s media ecology. Given the importance of global development in early childhood for later health and achievement, the present results suggest that interventions should include parent screen use habits in media wellness interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:32:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3c8c163a43224aa5a1c92c35f792f12c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:32:28Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-3c8c163a43224aa5a1c92c35f792f12c2024-01-10T04:13:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782024-01-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.12798931279893Do parent media habits contribute to child global development?Caroline Fitzpatrick0Caroline Fitzpatrick1Alexa Johnson2Angélique Laurent3Mathieu Bégin4Elizabeth Harvey5Department of Preschool and Elementary School Education, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, CanadaDepartment of Childhood Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Childhood Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Preschool and Elementary School Education, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, CanadaDepartment of Preschool and Elementary School Education, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, CanadaDépartement des Sciences de l’Éducation, Université Sainte-Anne, Church Point, NS, CanadaBackground/objectiveParents of preschoolers’ report using screen media frequently. More frequent screen use by parents may undermine child development by displacing time for foundational parent-child interactions. The objective of the present study is to examine the extent to which parent screen use contributes to child global development 1 year later.MethodsData are from a cohort of 315 preschoolers from Nova Scotia, Canada and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents reported the number of hours per day they spent using screens, as well as child screen time and sex, and parent educational attainment. Our outcome is child global development scores, which combine assessments of communication, cognitive, personal-social, and motor skills measured at 4.5 using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) (N = 249, 79% retained).ResultsParents in our sample spent on average 6.35 h per day using screen media outside of work (SD = 3.07) and children spent on average 3.43 h per/day using screens. Multivariate linear regression indicated that each 1-h increase in parents daily screen media use, corresponded to a 1.25 decrease in child global development scores, B = −1.25 p < 0.05, 95% CI between −2.37 and −0.13.ConclusionOur results indicate that parent screen use may represent a key component of children’s media ecology. Given the importance of global development in early childhood for later health and achievement, the present results suggest that interventions should include parent screen use habits in media wellness interventions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279893/fullparent media useparent screen useglobal developmentages and stages questionnairepreschoolearly childhood |
| spellingShingle | Caroline Fitzpatrick Caroline Fitzpatrick Alexa Johnson Angélique Laurent Mathieu Bégin Elizabeth Harvey Do parent media habits contribute to child global development? Frontiers in Psychology parent media use parent screen use global development ages and stages questionnaire preschool early childhood |
| title | Do parent media habits contribute to child global development? |
| title_full | Do parent media habits contribute to child global development? |
| title_fullStr | Do parent media habits contribute to child global development? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do parent media habits contribute to child global development? |
| title_short | Do parent media habits contribute to child global development? |
| title_sort | do parent media habits contribute to child global development |
| topic | parent media use parent screen use global development ages and stages questionnaire preschool early childhood |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279893/full |
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