Are screen devices soothing children or soothing parents? Investigating the relationships among children's exposure to different types of screen media, parental efficacy and home literacy practices

Abstract

Use of screen devices has become a standard practice in modern parenting. Research has shown that screen devices can be strategically used as tools, either for babysitting or for educational support. We surveyed 4,907 parents of preschool children from China to investigate how different devices (including TV, tablet, computer and paper-based books) may channel parental efficacy (or the lack of it) to home literacy practices. We found that parents with low parental efficacy were more likely to give their children all three kinds of screen devices, among which TV and tablet were detrimental to home literacy practices whereas computers, like books, were complementary to home literacy practices. Latent profile analysis showed that parents who allowed their children a high frequency of TV or tablet use had the poorest home literacy practices. In comparison, parents who provided fewer books but allowed high frequency of computer use while restricting TV or tablet use came from the lowest SES backgrounds in the sample, but they reported average levels of parenting efficacy and an average amount of home literacy practices. Only parents who felt efficacious about their parenting capabilities provided more paper-based picture books, thus generating optimal home literacy practices. Given the evidence from our finding that parents’ lack of efficacy is a predictor of increased child TV and tablet viewing time and decreased home literacy practices, we need to consider whether such practices arise from a chronic sense of anxiety about parenting effectively rather than efforts to temporarily soothe or entertain the children. More effort is needed to help parents manage their anxiety and to teach parents how to realize and exploit the educational values afforded by the advancing media technology.