Role of Parental Depressive Symptoms in the Relation Between Preschoolers’ Screen Use and Behavioral Problems

Screens are increasingly present in young children’s lives. While research suggests a relation between children’s screen use and socioemotional outcomes, less is known about it in the familial context, specifically regarding parents’ well-being. The study examined the extent to which the relation between preschoolers’ screen time and behavioral problems differs across the degrees of parents’ depressive symptoms using a survey in a sample of 171 preschooler caregivers (74.3% mothers; Mage = 32.9 years; 70.0% White, 12.9% multiracial, 7.1% Black, 5.9% Latinx, 4.1% Asian) in the US. Results showed that the depressive symptoms moderated the relation between screen time and internalizing behavior, but not externalizing behavior. The study contributes by identifying a potential moderator, a risk factor, in the familial context and illustrating different reasons that may drive children’s screen use. This suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of the relation between young children’s screen use and problematic behavior.