With past research largely focusing on overall time spent using screen media (including televisions), little is known about how the type and context of mobile screen use in early childhood is associated with children's behavior. The current study aimed to examine how the proportions of time spent on types of engagement (program viewing vs. interactive app use) and social contexts (solo vs. co-use) of mobile screen use were associated with internalizing and externalizing behavior in early childhood, examined along with stability and change in patterns of use over a one-year period. Parents of young children (n = 536; 52% toddlers aged 1 to <3 and 48% preschoolers aged 3 to <6) completed measures of child mobile screen use (i.e., smartphone and tablet), traditional media use (e.g., television), and internalizing and externalizing behavior. A majority of early childhood mobile screen use was spent on program viewing, while interactive educational app use was the second most common activity. Over a one-year period, children were relatively stable in their type of engagement, and social contexts of use. There were no significant cross-sectional associations of behavior with types of engagement or social contexts of use. Nevertheless, contrary to the hypothesis, a lower proportion of program viewing (i.e., higher proportion of interactive engagement on games or apps) at baseline was associated with greater externalizing behavior at one-year follow-up in toddlers. The stability findings suggest that early childhood may be a crucial time within which persistent screen use patterns and habits are formed. The inconsistent associations of types and social contexts of mobile screen use with behavior show that other factors such as content, associated interactions and purpose of use may need to be considered to better understand how use of mobile technology may be implicated in early childhood psychosocial development.

中文翻译：

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儿童手机屏幕使用的类型和背景以及与幼儿行为的关联


由于过去的研究主要集中在使用屏幕媒体（包括电视）的总时间上，因此对儿童早期使用手机屏幕的类型和背景与儿童行为的关系知之甚少。目前的研究旨在检查花在手机屏幕使用的参与类型（程序观看与交互式应用程序使用）和社交环境（单独与共同使用）上的时间比例如何与儿童早期的内化和外化行为相关联，以及一年内使用模式的稳定性和变化。幼儿的父母 （n = 536;52% 的 1 至 <3 幼儿和 48% 的 3 至 <6 学龄前儿童）完成了儿童移动屏幕使用（即智能手机和平板电脑）、传统媒体使用（例如电视）以及内化和外化行为的测量。幼儿移动屏幕的大部分使用都花在了节目观看上，而交互式教育应用程序的使用是第二常见的活动。在一年的时间里，儿童的参与类型和使用社会背景相对稳定。行为与参与类型或使用的社会环境没有显著的横断面关联。然而，与假设相反，基线时节目观看比例较低（即游戏或应用程序互动参与比例较高）与幼儿一年随访时较大的外化行为相关。稳定性研究结果表明，幼儿期可能是形成持续性屏幕使用模式和习惯的关键时期。 移动屏幕使用的类型和社会背景与行为的不一致关联表明，可能需要考虑其他因素，例如内容、相关交互和使用目的，以更好地了解移动技术的使用如何与儿童早期心理社会发展产生影响。