Exploring the effects of parental smartphone use on parent-child interactions relevant to language acquisition in young children

Background The importance of parent-child interactions, and time spent interacting and talking with children, on the development of a child’s language cannot be overstated (Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2001; Tamis- LeMonda et al., 2012; Rowe; 2012; Fusaro et al., 2014; Safwat & Sheikhany, 2014; Masek et al., 2021; Sundqvist et al., 2021). It is critical to a young child’s socioverbal development to engage regularly with their parents. The socioverbal skills milestones that are acquired during early childhood are in large part a direct effect of parent and child interactions (Hart & Risley, 1995). From a behavioural perspective, language is learned behaviour conditioned by contact with the environment including, most importantly, one’s primary caregivers (Skinner, 1957). Studies have shown that reduced time for such critical social interactions caused for example by parents or children spending longer periods of time engaging in screen use may contribute to children developing inadequate socioverbal skills including language (Sigman, 2012). Paediatricians, researchers and a wide variety of professionals and parents have had concerns about the negative effects of screen time on children of all ages (Council on Communications and Media et al., 2013). The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) discourages screen media exposure for children under the age of 18-months and recommends no more than 1 hour per day for children older than 18-months. However, recommendations for parental smartphone use are minimal. A subsection on Parental Media Use was added to the AAP (2016) cautioning parents that heavy parental smartphone use is associated with fewer verbal and non-verbal parent-child interactions. Despite the understanding that parent-child interactions are critical to language development, and that parental smartphone use is associated with a decrease in parent-child interactions, the effects of parental smartphone use on parent communications relevant to language development has not been extensively examined. Aim The aim of the present program of research was to determine the relationship between parental smartphone use, child screen use, and parent-child interactions that facilitate child language outcomes such as a child’s vocabulary, child-directed speech, overheard speech, joint attention and fluency. Methods This research comprised: (1) A survey study to determine the relationship between parental smartphone use, child screen use, and child language outcomes; (2) a longitudinal naturalistic observation in the home setting to explore the effects of parental smartphone use on the quantity of words spoken by parent per minute and per hour in smartphone and non-smartphone conditions; and (3) a naturalistic microanalysis to explore the effects of parental smartphone use on the quality of parental joint attention and fluency. Findings (1) The survey data showed a significant negative correlation between child screen use and a child’s vocabulary and a negative but non-significant correlation between parental smartphone use and children’s vocabulary. (2) The longitudinal naturalistic observation showed that parents say fewer words per minute when using their smartphone to view/type/scroll than in any other screen and non-screen condition. (3) The naturalistic microanalysis indicated that parents engage in the highest number of utterances when they are engaging in an activity with their child and there are no screens involved, and the second highest number of utterances when they are engaged in a screen activity with their child, or when they are engaged in separate activities but there are no screens present. The results also suggested that there is a higher level of interference/technoference (i.e., fewer percentage of utterances paired with joint attention) when parents are on their phones than in any other screen or non-screen condition. Lastly, parents exhibited a higher ratio of disfluency in the smartphone condition than in any other screen or non-screen condition. Conclusion The findings of this research provide new insights into the effects of parental smartphone use on parent-child interactions relevant to child language acquisition. The identification of fewer words per minute in the smartphone condition (Study 2) suggest that too much time on smartphones to view/type/scroll could contribute to fewer opportunities for children to be exposed to language. The microanalysis (Study 3) suggests that parents and children can engage in a high frequency of language exchanges even when they are not engaged in an activity together, if screens aren’t present. This suggests that smartphones can prevent parent-child interactions from occurring, even when parents and children are not engaged in an activity with each other. Additionally, the results on joint attention and fluency suggest that smartphone use can interrupt an already-established interaction or prevent an interaction from occurring. These results indicate that parental smartphone use can have a negative effect on parent-child interactions relevant to child language acquisition. Given the importance of parent-child interactions in the development of language in young children, and the effects that parental smartphone use can have on these interactions (e.g., fewer verbal exchanges, preventing or interrupting an exchange, a decrease in joint attention, and an increase in disfluency), continued work in this area is warranted.

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University of Galway

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

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University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses)