Advancing understanding of the role of the family media ecology on child anxiety and depression in middle childhood: What matters most?

Current research on digital devices and children's mental health often overlooks the broader family media ecology in favour of a monolithic measure of “screen time”. It remains unclear whether certain aspects of the family media ecology (i.e., device type, context, parental monitoring) are more consequential for children's mental health. To address this gap, this multi-informant study used a prospective cohort of 1140 children (48 % girls) and their mothers with data collected pre-pandemic (age 8) and during the pandemic (ages 9.7 and 10.4). Mothers completed questionnaires about their child's pre-pandemic anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as pandemic digital device use, awareness of their child's digital activities, household rules regarding devices, and their own technoference. Children reported on their pandemic anxiety and depression symptoms, device content (e.g., streaming, gaming) and contexts (e.g., solitary use, devices before bed), and their perceptions of maternal technoference. Regression models prospectively assessed child-reported depression and anxiety at age 10. After controlling for pre-pandemic anxiety and depression, screen time was associated with greater depression (β = 0.13, 95 % CI [0.05, 0.21]) and anxiety (β = 0.12, 95 % CI [0.04, 0.19]) symptoms. Child (but not mother-reported) maternal technoference was associated with increased child depression (β = 0.19, 95 % CI [0.12, 0.26]) and anxiety (β = 0.14, 95 % CI [0.07, 0.20]) symptoms. Text messaging was associated with increased anxiety symptoms, particularly for girls (β = 0.08, 95 % CI [0.02, 0.15]). These findings underscore the necessity of multi-faceted screen time metrics in research and involving diverse family perspectives in discussions about digital device use.