Digital Screen Exposure and Early Childhood Socialization: A Sociological Study of Family Environment in Urban Pakistan

Abstract

The growing use of digital screen devices in early childhood settings has brought up issues about the impact of digital screen devices on children's socialization and development. This study explores the connection between digital screen exposure and early childhood socialization in the context of the family environment in the urban context of Pakistan from a sociological perspective. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was followed, and data were collected from 150 respondents (parents and teachers of children between 2 and 8 years) in urban Pakistan. Screen exposure, psychological outcomes, social outcomes, and parenting environment were measured using a structured questionnaire that was rated on a five-point Likert scale. The descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis were performed using SPSS software. The results showed a medium amount of screen time for children (M = 3.42, SD = 0.78). The results of the correlation analysis indicated that there were significant positive correlations with psychological outcomes (r = 0.663, p < 0.01) and social outcomes (r = 0.747, p < 0.01) and screen exposure. The regression results suggested that screen exposure had a high explanatory power for the psychological outcomes (R² = 0.451) and a modest explanatory power when added to the model (R² = 0.383). The research findings conclude that there is a significant impact of excessive screen time on early childhood socialization, and thus, there is a need for parental control and a balance of screen time in the urban household.