Screen Media and Parent–Child Interactions

Screen media can indirectly shape children’s developmental outcomes by affecting the nature of everyday parent–child interactions. We highlight research conducted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst that has focused on how coviewing television influences both parent and child behaviors. This influence is largely in the direction of reducing parent–child interactions and parent language directed at young children compared to no media use. The impact, however, differs depending on whether TV program content is adult- or child-directed. Additionally, parent–child interactions differ when coviewing television relative to shared reading. In general, parent–child interactions are substantially different depending on context and media content. These findings readily extend to recent research on the impact of mobile screen technology on family interactions. Our working conclusion is that, in addition to media’s direct effects on children through both its form and content, there are likely important indirect effects of media on parent–child interactions as well.