The Relationship Between Parenting Style And Preschool Children’s Problem Behavior

The home is the first place where children live and learn,parents are significant others in the family sphere.With the advent of the digital age,children have become “digital natives”,and electronic media are deeply embedded in family life as material entities for storing and disseminating information,with parents,children,and electronic media closely linked in the family sphere.Since the outbreak of COVID-19,the home has become the norm,electronic media are gradually taking over children’s family activity time,and the problematic behavior of children caused by it has been widely concerned.How to avoid the risks brought by electronic media has also become an important issue to improve the quality of family education.Therefore,based on ecosystem theory,Mc Luhan’ s media theory,and social learning theory,this study explores how preschool children’s electronic media use affects their emotional and behavioral development,and whether parenting can significantly influence preschool children’s electronic media use,thereby reducing the risk of problem behaviors in preschoolers.This study explored the mechanism of the interaction between parenting style,preschool children’s use of electronic media,and preschool children’s problem behaviors by using questionnaire,interview,and literature methods.1224 questionnaires were collected in Jilin Province and Hebei Province,data were processed and structural equation models were constructed using SPSS and AMOS to explore the current status,demographic differences,and relationships among the three variables;10 parents were selected as interviewees for semi-structured interviews,and the data results were analyzed in depth with the interview data.The main findings of this study are as follows:1.Most parents prefer authoritative parenting and can provide warm support in the parenting process,but there are still a few parents who use authoritarian parenting.Children spend more time using electronic media for recreational electronic activities than for educational electronic activities,and television is the main media for recreational electronic activities.The overall problem behaviors of the children in this study were below average,with peer interaction problems more prominent among the internalized problem behaviors and hyperactive attention failure more prominent among the externalized problem behaviors.2.Parenting styles differed significantly in SES and child gender,but not in the child’ s age.Electronic media use and child problem behaviors differed significantly in SES,child age,and child gender.3.Parenting styles,preschool children’s electronic media use,and preschool children’s problem behaviors were significantly correlated.Authoritative parenting styles significantly negatively predicted recreational e-activities and problem behaviors in preschoolers,significantly positively predicted educational e-activities in preschoolers.The authoritarian parenting style was a significant positive predictor of recreational e-activities and problem behaviors in preschoolers,and a significant negative predictor of educational e-activities in preschoolers.Recreational e-activities significantly positively predicted problem behaviors and educational e-activities significantly negatively predicted problem behaviors.4.Preschool children’s use of electronic media partially mediates the relationship between parenting styles and preschool children’s problem behaviors,i.e.,parenting styles can directly influence preschool children’s problem behaviors or indirectly influence the occurrence of problem behaviors through preschool children’s use of electronic media.Finally,based on the results of the study,targeted educational suggestions are made in three aspects: first,to raise parents’ awareness of education and improve their parenting style.Second,cultivate good media use habits among children and give play to the positive role of media.Third,enhance social concern and contribute to high-quality family education.