Background: Studies have pointed out the
influence of different children’s activities and prolonged use of digital products
on their social development. However, whether the parent-child activities and using
digital devices were serial mediators of the relationship between children’s health
and social development needs further
verification. Purpose: This study explored how parent-child activities
and children’s use of digital devices influence the relationship between
children’s health and their social competence. Method: This study
used data from Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child
Development and Care. A total sample of 2164 participants was used in this study. Serial mediation analyses were
performed using model six of Hayes’ PROCESS (2012). Results: This study
found that parent-child activities and the use of digital devices can serially mediate
the relationship between children’s health
and social competence. Children’s health could directly improve their social
competence, but it could also serially mediate social competence by increasing
parent-child activities and reducing the use of digital devices. Conclusion: Childcare policy planners and parenting educators should not only call on parents
to reduce the use of electronic products for their children, but also encourage parents to spend more time
interacting with their children, so that children can learn social skills
by interacting with others in their daily lives.
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