Parents' Well-being and the Function of Screen Devices in a Time of Adversity – COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Intersection between technology and parenting: The COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Abstract

Screen devices have become increasingly present in the lives of young children and were further pronounced by the COVID-19 pandemic (Common Sense Media, 2020). While there has been extensive research highlighting the dangers of media on children (Calvert, 2015) and recent studies on the impact of displaced parent-child interactions by increased mobile devices (McDaniel, 2019), less is known about parental factors driving screen usage among parents and their children and its relation to child behavior, especially during the pandemic when screens were an integral part of daily living. Therefore, the present study examined the extent to which the contribution of parental depression to problematic child behavior can be explained by parent and child screen usage, especially during a time of adversity – the COVID-19 pandemic, using an online survey to contribute novel insights about the function of screen devices to parental well-being and child development. 171 caregivers (74.3% mothers; Mage = 32.9 years, SD = 5.6; 70.0% White) of preschoolers (49.7% female; Mage = 4.1 years, SD = 0.7) without developmental disabilities, who live with their children full-time and own a screen device were recruited on Prolific Academic. They completed an online survey on their psychological well-being (Brief Symptom Inventory; Derogatis, 1993), screen usage (attitude, device type, time spent, and open-ended questions on activities), child behavior (Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5; Achenbach & Rescoria, 2000), and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory; Grasso et al., 2020). Responses to open-ended questions indicate that most caregivers have a positive attitude toward the screens supporting their caregiving and child development. They reported that they not only use screens for entertainment but also for work, social connections, and "everything," while their preschoolers primarily use them for entertainment and educational content. On the other hand, using the quantitative data, mediation analyses revealed that parental depression indirectly influenced internalizing and externalizing child behavior through child screen usage (but not parent usage) while controlling for socioeconomic status and negative pandemic experiences (see Table 1). The findings suggest that preschoolers' screen usage is a significant mechanism by which parental depression may increase problematic child behavior. Perhaps, caregivers suffering from depression are using the screens as caregiving support, yet increasing children's unguided screen time and decreasing their interaction, and in turn, leading to problematic behavior. The study is consistent with the previous findings that screens potentially have a negative impact on children when digital media is becoming more accessible to younger age groups. In addition, it extends current literature by highlighting the importance of contextualizing screen usage and demonstrating that parents' use of devices may have become an integral part of their living, such as for social connections, work, and entertainment, and that their usage may not reflect their ways of regulating negative emotions or disengaging from caregiving. This provides knowledge that regardless of the parents' positive attitude toward the screens during the pandemic, parental depression is a robust and unique predictor of increased preschoolers' screen usage and poor behavioral adjustment.

Authors

• Hojin Han, Clark University
  Presenting Author

• Ana Kamille Marcelo, Clark University