The Longitudinal Effects of Maternal Parenting Efficacy and Autonomy Support on Children’s Media Addiction: The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Executive Function

Objectives: This study examined the longitudinal effects of maternal parenting efficacy and autonomy support on children's media addiction, mediated through children’s cognitive and emotional executive function.Methods: This study included 1,220 children taken from the Panel Study on Korean Children. Data from Waves 7 (age 6), 8 (age 7), 9 (age 8), and 11 (age 10) were used. Descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted using SPSS 29.0. Path analysis and bootstrapping for the mediating paths were analyzed using Mplus 8.9.Results: First, maternal parenting efficacy in Wave 7 (age 6), maternal autonomy support in Wave 8 (age 7), and children’s cognitive executive function in Wave 9 (age 8) had direct effects on children’s media addiction in Wave 11 (age 10). Second, maternal autonomy support in Wave 8 (age 7) mediated the relationship between maternal parenting efficacy in Wave 7 (age 6) and children’s media addiction in Wave 11 (age 10). Finally, children’s cognitive executive function, but not their emotional executive function in Wave 9 (age 8), significantly mediated the effects of maternal parenting efficacy and autonomy support on children’s media addiction.Conclusion: The results suggest that parenting programs aimed at preventing children’s media addiction need to include their autonomy support and parenting efficacy. In addition, it is important to focus on children’s cognitive executive function during middle childhood to prevent media addiction in late childhood. The findings of this study also highlight the need to consider children’s cognitive and emotional executive function independently to prevent or intervene in children’s media addiction.