Relationship between young children’s problematic behaviors, videogaming status, and parenting styles

Abstract

A growing number of studies have been focusing on the impact of videogame use on children’s psychology and behaviors. This study contributes by examining the relationships between videogaming status, parenting styles, and problematic behaviors. We used bivariate correlations to analyze a cross-sectional sample of 728 young children (3–5 years old) recruited from different regions (urban, town, and rural) in two large Chinese cities. The results revealed that young children’s average and longest videogaming time per week and the parenting styles they encountered were significantly correlated with their problematic behaviors. A series of linear regressions were then conducted to further investigate how different dimensions of videogame use and different parenting styles affect problematic behavior. The results highlight the critical importance of examining the relationships among these three factors in family contexts.