Family socioeconomic status and children's screen time

Abstract

Objective This mixed‐methods study examined whether higher‐socioeconomic status (SES) children's digital technology use adhered to contemporaneous pediatric guidelines, how it compared to lower‐SES children, and why, as analyses showed, higher‐SES children's technology use far exceeded pediatric recommendations. Background 2013 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommended limited “screen time” for children. Higher SES families tend to follow guidelines, but digital technology use—simultaneously a health behavior and a pathway for building human capital—has complex implications. Method Quantitative analyses provide new nationally representative estimates of the relationship between social class and 9‐ to 13‐year‐old children's technology time (including television), device access, and parenting rules (2014 PSID Child Development Supplement, N = 427). Qualitative analyses of 77 longitudinal higher‐SES parent interviews articulated explanatory processes. Results Higher‐SES children used technology as frequently as others and in excess of recommendations. Their device access, activities, and agency in adhering to rules, however, differed from others. Qualitative analysis uncovered processes that helped explain these findings: parents' ambivalence about technology and perception that expert guidance is absent or unrealistic, and children's exercise of agency to use technology facilitated by “concerted cultivation” parenting styles, led to higher‐SES individualistic parenting practices that supported children's increased non‐television technology use. Conclusion Cultures and structures related to children's technology use are in flux, and classed norms and understandings are emerging to construct relevant class‐based distinctions around parenting.

An Overview of Health Issue Tracking among Parents of School-Aged Children

“…Based on the results of the study, a univariate test has been found the many things. The first is known that the issue of child health that is often sought after by parents today is the danger of screen time (figure 1), which is 58.7%, this is in accordance with previous research that parents have a role to provide instructions regarding health information that has been listened to and then delivered in the form of health messages that children receive or practice more simply (Mollborn et al, 2022). Studies that have been conducted also explain that there is a statistical relationship between overweight or obese children with activity levels and consumption of healthy foods (Whiting et al, 2021a).…”

The Dark Side of Multimedia Devices: Negative Consequences for Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

“…Concerning parental factors, the use of touchscreens has been related to children with parents with lower academic levels [31,46]. Still, our results indicate a higher mean of multimedia device usage in children of parents without an academic degree.…”

Familial context influences media usage in 0- to 4-year old children

“…The results of our study, like those of many others state that low parental education and a low socioeconomic status are associated with children spending more time watching TV [e.g., ( 70 , 100 )]. Mollborn et al ( 98 ) confirm this finding and note that children brought up by a college-educated primary caregiver spend less time watching TV, but more time with non-TV technology. In conclusion, one could assume that a poorer level of education could be passed on transgenerationally to the children of these families through more intensive exposure to screen media.…”

“…In contrast Mollborn et al ( 98 ) found that higher-socioeconomic children spend a similar amount of time with digital media devices to other groups and at the same time do not have more rules, than children from socio-economically disadvantaged families, regarding the use of digital media. This contradicts previous findings.…”