Educational Content Features of Screen Media for Preschoolers: Links With Later Language, Literacy and Maths Ability

An increasingly prominent environmental influence for young children is their screen media exposure. For preschoolers (children aged 2-5 years), television and video viewing remains the most common type of screen media consumed. In this research we aimed to examine children’s natural television viewing habits (i.e., the television shows most frequently watched) at age 2 in relation to later language, literacy, and maths skills prior to school entry (age 4.5). Content viewed by children was coded for inclusion of language, literacy and maths instructional features. Data was collected as part of the longitudinal Growing Up in New Zealand study, with data available for 5,338 children and their mothers. Our results provide stronger evidence in favour of children learning language and maths skills than literacy skills from television, although in both cases learning was dependent on a moderated effect. Positive effects of language instructional features on vocabulary and communication were only seen among children from areas of high socioeconomic deprivation. With regards to numeracy skills, higher levels of television viewing were predictive of lower counting skills when children watched content with a low frequency of maths instructional features. Conversely, higher levels of television viewing were predictive of higher counting skills when children watched content with a high frequency of maths instructional features. Literacy instructional features were not associated with child outcomes. Our results indicate that for some children, exposure to educational media may help support the development of language and maths skills, highlighting the importance of high-quality educational media for preschool-aged children.