The role of different screen media devices, child dysregulation, and parent screen media use in children’s self-regulation
Open accessAbstract
Higher TV exposure has been repeatedly linked to poorer self-regulation among young children. Recent studies show that the use of mobile screen media devices is also negatively related to self-regulation in early childhood. Despite the proliferation of mobile devices in households with young children, it is unclear whether children’s use of smartphones and tablets predicts their self-regulation independently of TV use and parents’ screen media use or when also considering evocative effects of children’s dysregulation. This multimethod, cross-sectional study with a racially diverse sample (N = 72) in the western United States examines parents’ (86.3% mothers) leisure media use and preschool-aged children’s (M = 38.02 months, 55.6% girls, 47.2% racial-ethnic minority) mobile media use, TV use, and dysregulation as predictors of their behavioral battery-assessed self-regulation. As hypothesized, path models show that the amounts of children’s mobile media use, TV use, and dysregulation negatively predict their self-regulation, and mobile media use is a stronger predictor than TV use. We conclude with future directions to yield stronger inferences of screen media effects on child development that can inform interventions and screen time guidelines.
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Because mobile devices and their content are specifically designed to capture users' attention with frequent notifications, portability, and ease of use, they can have a particularly disruptive impact on in-person interactions.
“Because mobile devices and its content are specifically designed to capture users’ attention with frequent notifications, portability, and ease of use, they can have a particularly disruptive impact on in-person interactions.44”
From Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report (2026) · cites this paper as [44]
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“While some studies have found evidence supporting the detrimental effects of media exposure on EFs (e.g., Choe et al., 2022; Harmon, 2021; McHarg et al., 2020; Suggate & Martzog, 2021), others have reported no significant relation between media exposure and EFs (e.g., Choi et al., 2021; Jusienė et…”
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“These concerns resonate with studies linking screen exposure to language skills, parent-child talk, self-regulation, and psychosocial outcomes, particularly when screen use replaces responsive adult-child interaction (Madigan et al.,2020; Brushe et al., 2024; Choe et al., 2023).”
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“Research shows that children ’ s media practices are strongly in fl uenced by both their own self-regulatory capacities and their parents ’ guidance styles (Choe et al., 2023; Kim and Shin, 2019; Cingel and Krcmar, 2013).”
Digital Anxieties and Caution-Fairy Tales: How Children’s Picture Books Frame the Internet
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“For example, Choe et al. (2023) found that higher mobile media use is negatively associated with emotional regulation skills; Howard et al. (2025) found that children with fewer self-regulation strategies spent more time gaming and using digital media.”
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“Use of media has been shown to be negatively associated with children’s self-regulation, particularly mobile media use, which has been shown to have a stronger negative relation than television use (Choe et al., 2023).”
Self-citationLemire, C., Mariane, C.-R., Marianne, P., Myre-Bisaillon, J., & Martinez-Manningham, E. (2024) · Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l'éducation · doi:10.53967/cje-rce.6145
“Notamment, différentes études (Choe et al., 2022 ; Griffith et Qiu, 2022 ; Helm et McDermott, 2022) De plus, des études (Kelley et al., 2015 ; Takacs et al., 2015) tendent à montrer des avantages liés à l’utilisation de matériel technologique.”
Background
- Authors
- Choe, D. E., Lawrence, A. C., & Cingel, D. P.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Venue
- Psychology of Popular Media
- Published
- 2023-07
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 324-334
- ISSN
- 2689-6567 (ISSN-L)
- 2689-6575
- OpenAlex
- W4281646839
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 9.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychology of Popular Media (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Hellman Foundation
- US Department of Agriculture (1023551)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Keywords
- screen media use, self-regulation, television exposure, smartphones, tablets, preschool children, early childhood, screen time guidelines, behavioral regulation
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