Abstract

Young children's understanding of emotions is heavily socialized by their parents. Through interactions with parents, children learn what emotions look like, when they are expressed, and how they are labeled (Laible, 2004a). Interruptions to interactions between children and parents have the potential to influence the development of children's emotion knowledge. According to the DREAMER framework, how one family member uses media and technology can influence other family members (Barr et al., 2024). Technoference (i.e., digital distraction while with others) is one example of how media might interrupt family life and influence child development as a whole. The current study examined relations between parental technoference and child emotion knowledge 3 years later as mediated by child attachment security. Parental technoference was measured at waves 1, 2, 3, and 4 (ages 0-4), children's emotion knowledge (AKT) was measured at wave 4 (ages 3-4) and attachment (Q-sort) was measured at wave 2 (ages 1-2). Path analysis found a significant relation between attachment and child emotion knowledge. No other relations were statistically significant. I discuss implications for the attachment-emotion knowledge relation as well as potential reasons for the non-significant relation between parent technoference and child emotion knowledge.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life

Rights

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