Children’s Media Use and Sociocognitive Development: A Matter of Social Disparities?

• In Event: Issues of Settings and Disparities in Youth Media Research

Abstract

In this paper, we are interested in determining whether differential media behaviors between children can contribute to disparities in their socio-cognitive development. Since media use of children is likely to depend on their social context, we examine how these behaviors are impacted by the family’s socio-economic status. We apply SEM to test a theoretical mediation model. The data come from a cross-sectional survey with 844 elementary school children and their parents in Switzerland. Our results show that children’s media use does not negatively impact children’s socio-cognitive development per se but does so when personal media is frequently used for entertainment purposes. Children tend to use the media frequently as a form of entertainment when they have more media devices at their disposal. This finding is particularly evident in children from families with lower socio-economic background who have access to more media devices either in their bedroom or for mobile use.

Authors

• Anne-Linda Camerini, U della Svizzera Italiana

• Anne-Marie Jeannet, Bocconi U

• Peter J. Schulz, U della Svizzera italian