Home-rearing environment and preschoolers' academic and behavioral competence: The indirect role of children's screen time

Early childhood is a foundational period for academic and behavioral competence, shaped by both genetic potential and environmental contexts. The home-rearing environment (HRE)—encompassing organization, human and physical resources, and quality of parent-child interactions—has robust links to children’s cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development. With digital devices embedded in family life, children’s screen time may mediate associations between HRE and developmental outcomes. Drawing on Bioecological theory and childcare environment frameworks, the study examines whether screen exposure serves as a mechanism linking HRE to preschoolers’ academic (language and cognition) and behavioral competencies (self-regulation, self-efficacy, problem behaviors) in China, where few studies address preschoolers specifically. Research questions: (1) Is HRE positively related to children’s language/cognitive abilities, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and negatively to problem behavior? (2) Is HRE directly associated with these outcomes? (3) Does screen time play an indirect role between HRE and these outcomes? Hypotheses: (a) Higher HRE levels positively predict language/cognition, self-efficacy, self-regulation and negatively predict problem behavior; (b) HRE has direct associations with these outcomes; (c) HRE is negatively associated with screen time, which in turn predicts more problem behaviors and lower language/cognition, self-efficacy, and self-regulation.

Prior work shows that sustained positive family relationships and supportive HRE (e.g., autonomy support, warm caregiver interactions, stimulation, social engagement, reduced restriction, and social support) foster children’s academic and behavioral outcomes, while negative parenting and marital conflict undermine development. Parental involvement (e.g., book reading) benefits language and early literacy; warm and consistent interactions promote self-control. Marital quality and parental monitoring relate to self-control and fewer externalizing behaviors. Concurrently, rising screen access in early childhood is linked to poorer self-regulation, literacy, math, memory, and self-efficacy, as well as behavioral problems, with mechanisms including reduced parent-child language interactions and fewer creative activities. Building on Bioecological theory and the Interactional Theory of Childhood Problematic Media Use, the family microsystem shapes children’s screen patterns and moderates screen-related risks. Positive parenting can buffer screen-related risks; home learning activities can mitigate adverse associations between screen time and vocabulary/self-regulation. However, the pathways linking HRE, screen time, and preschoolers’ competencies—particularly in China—remain underexplored.

Design and sampling: Cross-sectional survey using stratified random sampling across three Chinese regions (Fujian, Sichuan, Xinjiang) representing varied socioeconomic contexts. Five preschools per region (15 total) were randomly selected; 60 children per preschool were invited (target N=900 child-parent dyads). Inclusion required adequate completion time (>780 s) and completeness; 825 valid dyads remained. Ethics approval obtained; informed consent secured. Participants: Preschool-aged children (mean age 5.97, SD 1.42; 45.8% girls) and one parent per child. SES derived from parent-reported education, occupation, and household income (z-standardized and averaged). Procedure: Parents completed an online survey (Wenjuan Xing) including demographics, HRE, child screen time, and child academic/behavioral measures. Measures: - Home-rearing environment (HRE): Index of Child Care Environment (ICCE; 13 items; four dimensions: human stimulation, social stimulation, avoidance of restriction, social support). ICCE correlates highly with HOME; reported reliability high (a≈0.89). Prior validity evidence links ICCE to developmental outcomes. - Child screen time: Global estimates (6 items) capturing daily hours over the past week for TV, smartphones, tablets, computers, and interactive gaming; 7-point response (1=0 h to 7=>6 h). Items z-standardized and averaged; higher scores indicate more screen time. - Language and cognition: Literacy and Cognition subscale of the Chinese Early Development Instrument (CEDI; 39 dichotomous items on interest/memory, numeracy, basic and advanced literacy). Reported reliability in China a=0.90; current study a=0.95. - Self-efficacy: Chinese General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES; 10 items; 4-point Likert). Good construct validity, test-retest ICC=0.83, internal consistency a=0.87; current study a=0.85. - Self-regulation: Children’s Self-regulation Questionnaire (CFQ; 22 items; 5-point Likert). Prior Chinese reliability a≈0.80; current study a=0.85. - Problem behavior: SDQ total difficulties (Chinese version; 20 items covering emotional, conduct, hyperactivity, peer problems; 3-point Likert). Prior validity in Hong Kong; current study a=0.72. Data analysis: Descriptive statistics, normality (skewness/kurtosis), correlations, and Cronbach’s a in SPSS 26. Hierarchical multiple regression tested direct associations of HRE with outcomes controlling for age, gender, SES. Structural equation modeling (Mplus 8.3; FIML for missing data) tested indirect effects via screen time, controlling demographics. Indirect effects evaluated with 5,000 bootstrap samples and bias-corrected 95% CIs; significance inferred when CI excluded 0.

Sample descriptives: N=825; mean age 5.97 (SD=1.42); girls 45.8%. HRE mean 9.03 (SD=2.56). Screen time standardized (mean 0, SD 1). Correlations: HRE negatively correlated with screen time (r=-0.24, p<.001) and problem behavior (r=-0.19, p<.001), and positively with literacy/cognition (r=0.24, p<.001), self-efficacy (r=0.24, p<.001), and self-regulation (r=0.23, p<.001). Screen time correlated negatively with literacy/cognition (r=-0.16, p<.01), self-efficacy (r=-0.12, p<.05), self-regulation (r=-0.18, p<.01), and positively (small) with problem behavior (r=0.09, p<.05). Direct effects (hierarchical regression; controlling age, gender, SES): HRE predicted higher literacy/cognition (β=0.25, p<.001), self-efficacy (β=0.25, p<.001), self-regulation (β=0.24, p<.001), and fewer problem behaviors (β=-0.19, p<.001). SEM pathways (controls included): HRE→Screen time β=-0.19 (p<.001). Screen time→Literacy/cognition β=-0.10 (p<.01); →Self-efficacy β=-0.07 (p<.05); →Self-regulation β=-0.14 (p<.001); →Problem behavior β=0.05 (p=.19, ns). Direct effects of HRE remained significant: →Literacy/cognition β=0.23 (p<.001); →Self-efficacy β=0.24 (p<.001); →Self-regulation β=0.22 (p<.001); →Problem behavior β=-0.18 (p<.001). Indirect effects (bootstrap 5,000; bias-corrected 95% CIs): - HRE→Screen time→Literacy/cognition: effect=0.009, 95% CI [0.003, 0.017]. - HRE→Screen time→Self-efficacy: effect=0.004, 95% CI [0.000, 0.008]. - HRE→Screen time→Self-regulation: effect=0.006, 95% CI [0.003, 0.011]. - HRE→Screen time→Problem behavior: effect=-0.018, 95% CI [-0.050, 0.008] (ns). Overall, better HRE associated with lower screen time and improved academic and behavioral competencies; mediation via screen time was small but significant for literacy/cognition, self-efficacy, and self-regulation, but not for problem behavior.

Findings align with Bioecological theory and childcare environment frameworks, showing that supportive HREs directly foster preschoolers’ language/cognition, self-regulation, and self-efficacy, and reduce problem behaviors. The indirect pathway indicates that higher-quality HREs are linked to reduced screen exposure, which in turn relates to better academic and self-regulatory outcomes. The lack of a significant indirect effect on problem behavior suggests that other mechanisms (e.g., peer dynamics, school contexts, temperament/genetics) may be more salient for behavioral problems. The small size of indirect effects indicates that HRE influences extend well beyond screen-time pathways, consistent with theories emphasizing rich, scaffolded caregiver-child interactions as primary drivers of development. Practically, enriching home environments and balanced, well-mediated screen use can support children’s competencies.

This study contributes evidence from a large Chinese preschool sample that high-quality home-rearing environments are linked to stronger academic (language/cognition) and behavioral competencies (self-regulation, self-efficacy) and fewer problem behaviors. Screen time partially explains these associations for academic and self-regulatory outcomes, though effects are modest and not evident for problem behavior. Interventions should prioritize enhancing the HRE—promoting interactive play, shared reading, and caregiver scaffolding—alongside guiding parents to manage and mediate screen use. Future research should employ longitudinal and cross-cultural designs, incorporate multi-informant/objective assessments, and differentiate educational versus entertainment screen content and device types to clarify causal mechanisms and generalizability.

- Cross-sectional design precludes causal inference; longitudinal studies are needed. - Reliance on parent-reported measures may introduce response bias; future work should include objective/behavioral assessments. - Screen time was not differentiated by content (educational vs entertainment) or device type (TV, tablet, smartphone, computer), limiting specificity of inferences. - Conducted within the Chinese cultural context, potentially limiting generalizability to other sociocultural settings.