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Despite the documented rise of children's use of mobile media devices in the United States, particularly in lower-income homes, there is limited research on how children and parents interact together with these types of devices. This study sought to describe and investigate how parents and their 3-year-old children use one type of mobile digital media -- e-books. With a sample of 65 families from middle- and lower-income homes, the present study examined different parent profiles in a parent-child interaction with e-books and how parents' attitudes around learning influenced their interactions. Results show that parents and children on average demonstrated high levels of engagement and collaboration when using an e-book, although there was wide variability in the way parents and children interacted with e-books. Using latent profile analysis, three distinct profiles of parent interactions when using e-books with their children were identified: parents with high levels of speech quality and dialogic talk but low levels of engagement, parents with low levels of speech quality, and parents with high speech quality but low dialogic talk. In addition, parent report measures of self-efficacy, growth mindset, knowledge of child development, and screen time used at home varied by the parent profiles identified in this study. The findings suggest that future research should examine parent profiles to help advance the research base in service of informing efforts to promote adult-child interactions as they relate to mobile device use.

Studies suggest that mobile screen media can play a positive role in young children's language and literacy development. However, the role of mobile screen media in the home literacy environment of pre-school aged children has not been widely explored. Currently, it is unclear whether the amount of time on mobile devices has any association with their language and literacy development. The present study therefore explored the frequency of mobile digital media use and its relationship to children's language and emergent literacy skills, and whether and how child and family characteristics may have mediated this relationship. The sample consisted of 881 children in Massachusetts (M[subscript age] = 5.16; 69% White, non-Hispanic; 48% female) who completed language and literacy assessments on letter/word recognition, phonological awareness, vocabulary, syntax and language. Parents completed a survey on their child's literacy and technology activities at home. Results suggest that any associations between mobile screen media and language and literacy development may not be explained by quantity of use, but rather the nature of use. No robust statistically significant associations were found between the frequency of mobile media device use and children's language and literacy skills after controlling for key child and family background characteristics. Although rhyme awareness scores were significantly related to frequency of mobile device use, the association was weak. Thus, further research should explore types of activities, app features, and interactions that are important for children's development of language and literacy skills when using mobile media devices.

• Most children lived and attended early education and care in different neighborhoods. • Residential and preschool neighborhood match varied by family characteristics. • Children's residential and preschool neighborhoods were socioeconomically similar. • Children's skills were inconsistently linked to neighborhood socioeconomic match. The current study analyzed patterns of neighborhood socioeconomic match across 3- and 4-year-old children's (N = 2,029) residential and preschool neighborhoods in Massachusetts. Most children (80%) lived and attended early education and care in different neighborhoods. Children in households with the lowest incomes and those whose families identified as Black or African American were among the likeliest to have mismatched residential and preschool neighborhoods. Yet children's residential and preschool neighborhoods were typically socioeconomically similar across all categories we considered. Associations between residential and preschool neighborhood socioeconomic match and children's skills were inconsistent and depended on the socioeconomic status of children's residential neighborhood. These findings illustrate how the concept of demographic match can be applied to a range of contexts and contribute to the field's understanding of how the dynamic interplay of children's multiple day-to-day contexts may relate to early learning and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]