The relationship between parenting stress and preschool children’s screen dependence: the chain mediating role of parent–child interaction quality and executive function

Abstract

This study examined the association between parenting stress and preschool children’s screen dependence, with particular attention to the potential serial indirect associations through parent–child interaction quality and children’s executive function. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 690 parents of children aged 3–6 years. Parenting stress, parent–child interaction quality, children’s executive function, and preschool children’s screen dependence were assessed using validated instruments. Serial mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap samples, controlling for children’s gender and age, parental educational level, and annual family income. The results showed that parenting stress was positively associated with preschool children’s screen dependence and negatively associated with parent–child interaction quality and children’s executive function, while parent–child interaction quality was positively associated with executive function. Furthermore, the total indirect effect of parenting stress on screen dependence was significant, including the indirect pathways through parent–child interaction quality, through executive function, and through the serial pathway involving both parent–child interaction quality and executive function. Taken together, these findings indicate that higher parenting stress was associated with greater preschool children’s screen dependence both directly and indirectly through lower parent–child interaction quality and weaker executive function.