Abstract
Socio-demographic risks are associated with higher child screen time and higher screen time is associated with poor socioemotional and developmental health. Existing studies have not examined children’s screen time as a mechanism through which distal risks may be associated with child outcomes. In the current study, we examined whether two proximal factors, screen time and parenting quality, mediate the relation between distal cumulative risk and child outcomes. Participants (N = 1992) were drawn from a birth cohort of mothers and their children (81% white; 46% female). Mothers reported on cumulative risk factors (maternal income, education, depression, stress, marital status, housing instability, unemployment, and maternal history of childhood adversity) during the prenatal period. Parenting quality (ineffective/hostile, positive interactions) and children’s screen time (hours/week) were assessed when children were three years of age. Child socioemotional (internalizing and externalizing problems) and developmental (achievement of developmental milestones) outcomes were measured at five years of age. Path analysis revealed indirect effects from cumulative risk to internalizing symptoms and achievement of developmental milestones via screen time. Indirect effects were observed from cumulative risk to internalizing and externalizing behavior via hostile parenting behavior. Over and above the effects of parenting, screen time may be a factor that links structural forms of social disadvantage during the prenatal period to child socioemotional and developmental outcomes. Due to modest effect sizes of screen time, it remains the case that child socioemotional and developmental health should be conceptualized within the context of distal cumulative risk factors such as caregiver psychological and material resources.
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The All Our Families meta-data is available through a third-party data curator, SAGE/Policywise (https://sagemetadata.policywise.com/nada/index.php/catalog/1). Investigators can submit a proposal that has been approved by an independent ethics and scientific review committee to obtain de-identified individual participant data.
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The authors acknowledge the contributions of the All Our Families research team and thank the participants who took part in the study.
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The All Our Families study was supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (Interdisciplinary Team grant 200700595); Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation; and Max Bell Foundation. The principal investigator of AOF is Suzanne Tough. Research support was provided by the Canada Research Chairs program to Dillon Browne and Sheri Madigan. Fellowship from the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute to Brae Anne McArthur. Fellowship from Alberta Innovates Clinician Fellowship to Nicole Racine.
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Brae Anne McArthur, Dillon Browne, Nicole Racine, and Sheri Madigan conceptualized the study, conducted data analyses, drafted the manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. Suzanne Tough conceptualized the cohort study, designed the data collection instruments and methodology, secured funding, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
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McArthur, B.A., Browne, D., Racine, N. et al. Screen Time as a Mechanism Through Which Cumulative Risk is Related to Child Socioemotional and Developmental Outcomes in Early Childhood. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 50, 709–720 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00895-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00895-w