A Longitudinal Study of Children’s Digital Play Addiction Tendencies and Parental Guidance Strategies

Abstract

The current study aims to identify changing trends in digital play addiction tendencies among young children and parental guidance strategies before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the bioecological model of development, it was hypothesized that the pandemic would have a significant impact on the addiction to digital play among young children. The participants of this longitudinal trend study were 1552 parents with children from 4 to 6 years of age who attended public preschools or kindergartens in Denizli, Turkey—data was collected through the Digital Play Addiction Tendency and Digital Play Parental Mediation Scale. The results revealed that children’s digital play addiction increased during the pandemic and declined post-pandemic. Moreover, both significant changes and stability were observed in parental digital play guidance strategies. Specifically, parental control over their children’s digital activities has decreased over time. Results are discussed in relation to the literature, with implications explored for future research and parents.