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Parent Technology Use, Parent-Child Interaction, Child Screen Time, and Child Psychosocial Problems among
Rosa S Wong1, Keith T S Tung1, Nirmala Rao2
1Department of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Insights
Parental technology use impacts child development. High parent digital device use is linked to less parent-child interaction, more child screen time, and increased psychosocial difficulties in young children.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Digital Media and Family Studies
- Public Health
Background:
- Disadvantaged families face unique challenges regarding technology use and child development.
- Understanding the complex interplay between parental technology habits and child psychosocial outcomes is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the pathways linking parental technology use, parent-child interactions, child screen time, and psychosocial difficulties in young children from disadvantaged families.
- To identify mediating factors in the relationship between parental technology use and child psychosocial problems.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 1254 parents of 3-year-old children in Hong Kong.
- Data collected on child screen time, child psychosocial behaviors (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), parental digital device usage, and parent-child interaction frequency.
- Structural equation modeling used to analyze the relationships between variables, controlling for sociodemographic factors.
Main Results:
- Parental distraction with technology during interactions fully mediated the link between parental problematic technology use and child screen time.
- Problematic parental technology use directly correlated with increased child psychosocial difficulties.
- Indirect associations between parental technology use and child difficulties were observed through technological distractions, reduced parent-child interactions, and increased child screen time.
Conclusions:
- Higher parental digital technology usage is associated with negative outcomes for children in disadvantaged families, including reduced parent-child interaction, increased screen time, and psychosocial difficulties.
- Limiting parental electronic device use around young children may support healthier psychosocial development.
Objective:
To disentangle the pathways of parent technology use, parent-child interactions, child screen time, and child psychosocial difficulties among disadvantaged families in Hong Kong.
Study Design:
Parents of 1254 3-year-old children from the KeySteps@JC project reported on the number of hours their children used electronic devices every day and evaluated their children's psychosocial behaviors using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. These parents also reported on their own digital device usage patterns and the frequency of parent-child interactions and provided sociodemographic data. Structural models were tested with parent technology use (independent variable), parent technological distractions and parent-child interactions and child screen time (mediators), child psychosocial problems (dependent variable), and children's age and sex and family socioeconomic status index (confounding variables).
Results:
Parent distraction with technology during parent-child interactions completely mediated the overall association between parent problematic digital technology use and child screen use duration. Parent problematic digital technology use was positively and directly associated with child psychosocial difficulties. In addition, it was indirectly related to child psychosocial difficulties through technological distractions and reductions in parent-child interactions and increased media use by children.
Conclusion:
Higher parent digital technology usage was associated with reduced parent-child interactions and increased child screen time and psychosocial difficulties in disadvantaged families. These results suggest that limiting parents' use of electronic devices in front of their young children could be beneficial for childhood psychosocial development.
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