An Initial Investigation into Parental Perceptions Surrounding the Impact of Mobile Media Use on Child Behavior and Executive Functioning

Abstract

Children demonstrate increasing early engagement with mobile media facilitated by its portability and interactivity. Parents are known to employ a range of mediation strategies for mobile media use but continue to have limited awareness about the impact of mobile media on their child’s executive functioning. Mobile media use has previously been shown to be negatively correlated with the executive functioning development of a child; however, little is known of how parents approach their child’s mobile media use. This study employed a survey design (N = 281) to examine how parents access information related to mobile media and document their perspectives about the impact of mobile media on their child’s behavior and executive functioning. Correlational analyses and cooccurrence graphs showed that parents implement several mediation strategies but rarely access guidelines on mobile media use. A confirmatory factor analysis examined the model fit for four latent constructs of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF®), which included the Inhibit, Emotional Control, Initiate, and Working Memory scales. Structural equation modelling substantiated the association between parental perception of negative impacts of mobile media related to their child’s behavior, academics, and/or attention and a lower observed executive functioning. Overall, these findings suggest that parents recognize the negative impacts of mobile media on their child’s behavior, and this is associated with how they see the development of their child’s executive functioning. The results emphasize the importance of educating parents as to the role of mobile media in shaping their child’s behavior and associated executive functions.