Identifying Windows of Developmental Susceptibility to Media Emotion Regulation with Associations to Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors, Problematic Media Use, and Emotional Development

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Abstract
Research has consistently found that media emotion regulation processes are negatively related to several developmental outcomes in early childhood. Using longitudinal data from N = 451 children, we examined how the association between media emotion regulation processes and children’s problematic media use, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and social-emotional functioning fluctuated across early and middle childhood, spanning from 2 to 9 years of age. Using a Time-Varying Effects Model (TVEM), we found evidence that the association between media emotion regulation and children’s development is not static across childhood and fluctuates across different ages and stages. Specifically, we identified windows of developmental sensitivity to media emotion regulation processes during early childhood in terms of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and an increasing sensitivity to the effects of media emotion regulation on problematic media use across early childhood. These findings point to the need for developmentally-sensitive research approaches, interventions, and parenting practices around the use of technology to calm young children.