A study on the impact of mass media use in families on children's behavioral development

The rapid proliferation of digital media tools today has made their impact on children's developmental processes a significant area of research. The level of violence in media content, forms of interaction, and daily usage duration play a decisive role in the cognitive functions, behavioral responses, and psychosocial adjustment of primary school-aged children. This quantitative study, structured accordingly, aims to examine the relationship between parental media usage habits and children's externalizing behavior problems, attention deficits, and executive function impairments. The research was conducted with data collected from 300 primary school students attending public schools in central Istanbul and their parents. The ASEBA School-Age Behavior Checklist, Internet Addiction Scale, and Family Assessment Scale were used during data collection. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was employed for statistical analyses, utilizing Pearson correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and one-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). The findings reveal that parents' prolonged media usage durations and preference for violent media content significantly contribute to increased aggression levels and heightened attention deficit symptoms in children. Social media usage was found to negatively affect children's self-perception and body image while triggering externalizing behavior problems. Conversely, parents' supervisory and guiding attitudes toward media usage were observed to significantly mitigate these adverse effects. The research results emphasize the need to enhance media literacy, expand parental guidance programs, and establish controlled media policies for children. The findings demonstrate that conscious and selective media consumption is crucial for child development.