Configurations of Screen Use–Related Parenting Behaviors Among Chinese Parent Dyads of Preschool Children: Antecedents and Consequences

Screen use-related parenting behaviors are important predictors for the onset and development of children’s problematic screen use (PSU). However, the configurative patterns of these behaviors within parental dyads remain underexplored. It is also unclear how parents’ own screen use attitudes and behaviors may shape their screen-related parenting. This study identified profiles of maternal and paternal screen-related parenting practices in a representative sample of 3,290 Chinese parent-child dyads (44.95% girls, Mean child age = 5.34 years, SD = 1.47). We further examined children’s PSU levels across profiles and explored parental screen use attitudes and behaviors as antecedents. Latent profile analysis revealed five configurations: disengaged fathers and lax mothers, lax fathers and disengaged mothers, lax fathers and engaged mothers, dually lax parents and dually engaged parents. Children in the dually engaged parents profile showed the lowest PSU, whereas those in disengaged-related profiles showed related high levels of PSU. Moreover, supportive attitudes toward screen use served as a distinguishing feature between the disengaged-related profiles and lax-related profiles, while parental phubbing distinguished the engaged-related profiles from the lax-related profiles. Findings highlight the heterogeneity in screen-related parenting configurations. Joint efforts from both parents in screen use related parenting may maximize the reduction of children’s PSU.

与屏幕使用相关的教养行为是儿童问题性屏幕使用（Problematic Screen Use, PSU）发生与发展的重要预测因子。然而，双亲组合内的这类屏幕相关教养行为的配置模式仍未得到充分挖掘。此外，父母自身的屏幕使用态度与行为如何影响其屏幕相关教养行为，目前仍不明确。本研究在3290对中国亲子组合的代表性样本中（女孩占比44.95%，儿童平均年龄5.34岁，标准差1.47），识别出了父母双方屏幕相关教养行为的潜剖面类型。本研究进一步比较了不同潜剖面组儿童的PSU水平，并探究了父母自身屏幕使用态度与行为作为前因变量的作用。潜剖面分析结果显示共存在5种配置模式：父亲疏离型、母亲松懈型；父亲松懈型、母亲疏离型；父亲松懈型、母亲投入型；双亲均松懈型，以及双亲均投入型。处于双亲均投入型剖面的儿童，其PSU水平最低；而属于与疏离型相关剖面的儿童，PSU水平则显著偏高。此外，对屏幕使用持支持性态度，是区分与疏离型相关剖面和松懈型相关剖面的显著特征；而父母低头玩手机行为，则可区分投入型相关剖面与松懈型相关剖面。本研究结果凸显了屏幕相关教养行为配置模式的异质性。双亲共同参与屏幕相关教养工作，或可最大程度降低儿童的PSU水平。