Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
Pediatr Res. 2021 May;89(6):1523-1529. doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-1004-5. Epub 2020 Jun 10.
Media use is pervasive among young children. Over 95% of homes in the US have one or more televisions, and access to screen-based media continues to grow with the availability of new technologies. Broadly, exposure to large amounts of screen-based media is negatively related to language and literacy skills; however, questions remain as to the features of media that are detrimental to these skills and the mechanisms by which they are connected.
A nationally representative sample of 922 children aged 3-7 years was recruited. Parents completed phone-based questionnaires of children's language, literacy, and self-regulation skills and a 24-h time diary in 2009. Path models were used to estimate the direct and indirect associations between context and content of media use with language and literacy skills.
Background and entertainment television, but not educational television, were negatively associated with language and literacy. Further, the link between background television and language and literacy skills was fully mediated by self-regulation.
Television left on in the background and entertainment programming (or that which is not child-directed) is particularly detrimental for language and literacy skills. Additional research is needed to further explore self-regulation as a mechanism by which screen use predicts academic skills.
Background and entertainment television are negatively associated with language and literacy skills in 3- to 7-year-old children. We find no relation between educational programming and language and literacy skills. Self-regulation is a potential mechanism underlying the relation between background television and language and literacy skills. Anticipatory guidance for parents would be to consider turning off screen-based media devices when no one is watching. Parents should be mindful of the types of content their children are watching on screen-based media.
媒体在幼儿中广泛使用。超过 95%的美国家庭拥有一台或多台电视，随着新技术的出现，接触基于屏幕的媒体的机会继续增加。总体而言，大量接触基于屏幕的媒体与语言和读写技能呈负相关；然而，对于哪些媒体特征对这些技能有害以及它们之间的联系机制仍存在疑问。
招募了一个年龄在 3-7 岁之间的具有全国代表性的 922 名儿童样本。父母在 2009 年通过电话完成了儿童语言、读写和自我调节技能的问卷调查以及 24 小时时间日记。路径模型用于估计媒体使用的背景和内容与语言和读写技能之间的直接和间接关联。
背景和娱乐电视与语言和读写技能呈负相关，但教育电视没有。此外，背景电视与语言和读写技能之间的联系完全由自我调节所介导。
背景中常开的电视和娱乐节目（或不是儿童导向的节目）对语言和读写技能特别有害。需要进一步研究以进一步探索自我调节作为屏幕使用预测学业技能的机制。
背景和娱乐电视与 3-7 岁儿童的语言和读写技能呈负相关。我们没有发现教育节目与语言和读写技能之间存在关系。自我调节是背景电视与语言和读写技能之间关系的潜在机制。对父母的预期指导是在没有人观看时关闭基于屏幕的媒体设备。父母应该注意孩子在基于屏幕的媒体上观看的内容类型。
