The role of parental emotional factors in toddler’s amount of screen use

Abstract

In today’s world, children have high exposure to near-ubiquitous digital media in their homes. However, early use has been linked with developmental and emotional delays. In this context, the aim of our research was to examine specific emotional parental factors (i.e. anxiety-depressive and stress symptoms and parental reactions to children’s negative emotions) that may be associated with the amount of screen time toddlers have during weekdays and weekends. A total of 100 parents of toddlers aged 12–36 months participated in the study, completing questionnaires. The findings revealed that parents’ anxiety-depressive and stress symptoms were linked to their toddlers’ digital media use, particularly on weekends. Additionally, parents' reactions to their children's negative emotions were most strongly associated with weekend television usage. Overall, regardless of the type of screen or time of use, higher exposure to TV or mobile devices was associated with the greater likelihood of parents using screens as a response to their children’s negative emotions and a reduced likelihood of encouraging emotional expression. Moreover, associations between parental anxiety-depressive and stress symptoms and toddler weekday and weekend screen time were mediated by using screens to help children regulate emotions. This research enhances our understanding of the factors that may influence toddlers’ screen exposure. Targeted interventions addressing these factors could be developed to prevent or mitigate early and extensive screen use in young children.