# Technology Use and Emerging Executive Functioning in Early Childhood

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $524,004

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The rapid adoption of mobile and interactive technologies by American families has outpaced research on their
potential effects on child development and health. Much prior research on television (TV) and older forms of
media relied upon parent recall of global constructs such as “screen time,” which may not be a complete
representation of family media use now that parents and children use mobile and interactive devices in an
intermittent, on-demand manner throughout the day. As highlighted at the 2018 NICHD scientific workshop on
Media Exposure and Early Child Development, the design affordances of mobile and interactive media differ
from TV in several important ways, and deserve novel scientific paradigms to describe how children and
families use media. The proposed project will fill these gaps in scientific knowledge by testing a conceptual
framework informed by human-computer interaction that examines how parent and child mobile media use
influence the development of child executive functioning (EF). We will examine mechanisms of these
associations, including changes in quality of parent-child interaction and frequency of EF-building activities,
and test whether effects are moderated by child sex and family psychosocial stress. The proposed research
comprises 2 studies. Study 1 involves semi-structured interviews with 40 parents from diverse backgrounds, to
explore parents’ conceptualizations of problematic design affordances and inform our measures for Study 2, a
longitudinal cohort study of 400 parent-toddler dyads followed yearly from age 2 to age 4. At each yearly home
visit, we will assess media use via surveys, mobile sampling, and app design coding, as well as standardized
video-recorded assessments of child executive functioning (EF) and parent-child interaction. In specific aim 1,
we will use structural equation models to examine bidirectional, longitudinal associations between parent
mobile media use (duration, frequency, and problematic design affordances) and child EF, testing both direct
pathways and mediation by quality of parent-child interaction and frequency of EF-building activities. In specific
aim 2, we will examine bidirectional longitudinal associations between child mobile media (use for regulatory
purposes, duration, and problematic design affordances) and EF, testing both direct pathways and mediation
by quality of parent-child interaction and frequency of EF-building activities. Finally, we will examine how child
sex and psychosocial stressors moderate associations between parent and child media use and EF. Our
findings will contribute to the evidence base upon which digital media guidelines are based, as well as digital
design approaches that reflect the needs of families with young children. In addition, our attention to modeling
bidirectional associations and articulating individual child, parent, and design affordance factors in the context
of early EF development will inform development of both precise b...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10207071
- **Project number:** 1R01HD102370-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** JENNY S RADESKY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $524,004
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-19 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10207071

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10207071, Technology Use and Emerging Executive Functioning in Early Childhood (1R01HD102370-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10207071. Licensed CC0.

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