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The American Academy of Paediatrics recommend that parent and children (aged 2–18 years) jointly engage in media yet the impact on interactions is unknown. This systematic review identified joint media engagement (JME) rates, the supports offered by parents and children to each other and the impact of JME on parent–child interactions. A search within six article databases (ProQuest, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, Pub Med, and CINAHL) from January 2007 to June 2019 found 7,130 results. Included papers involved parent–child dyads engaging in JME with a smartphone or tablet. In the 27 identified papers, most parents engaged in JME sometimes (41–72%) compared to JME use that was frequent (13–38%) and JME refusal (4–8%). Parents and children supported each other with cognitive, physical, technical, and affective techniques. Children were more engaged during JME activities and key elements of language quality was reduced compared to nonmobile device activities (such as toy play). The impact of JME on language quantity, warmth, scaffolding and the overall parent–child relationship was inconsistent, however, several factors that potentially influenced this impact were identified. Research investigating these factors and how apps may foster interactions is needed.

An increasing number of parents use mobile devices while caring for children and share devices with children during play. However, recent evidence suggests that independent parental mobile device use and shared parent-child device use may harm parent-to-child language. A counterbalanced, repeated measures study was conducted to investigate whether parent language quality and quantity differed between (1) parental device use, (2) parental magazine reading, (3) shared parent-child device play and (4) shared parent-child non-digital toy play. Data were collected from 24 parent-child dyads with children aged between 2.0 and 3.11 years during recorded laboratory observations. Parents provided a significantly higher number of new words and utterances during shared non-digital play compared to independent parental device use and shared non-digital play compared to shared device play. Language quantity and quality did not vary between parental device use and parental magazine use. Recommendations for parents and professionals aiming to promote children's language development with mobile devices are discussed. These results encourage parents to select non-digital toys rather than devices to promote language development in children.