Understanding Children’s Television Exposure From a Life Logistics Perspective: A Longitudinal Study of the Association Between Mothers’ Working Hours and Young Children’s Television Time

Abstract

Prior research has suggested that mothers’ life logistics may increase opportunities for children to watch television. However, associations between structural circumstances of mothers’ lives and levels of children’s television use have not been empirically investigated. The contribution of this study is that it investigates maternal structural life circumstances longitudinally associated with children’s television time and potential mechanisms underlying this association. More specifically, the study examined the association between mothers’ working hours and children’s television time, and the mediating roles of mothers’ parenting time pressure and well-being in this relationship. Structural equation modeling using data from a two-wave panel survey of mothers of 1- to 4-year-olds (N = 404) demonstrated a longitudinal relationship between mothers’ working hours and children’s television time. This relationship was mediated by mothers’ parenting time pressure and well-being, indicating that high maternal working hours create parenting time pressure and undermine mothers’ well-being, which encourages children to watch more television.