Parent-child joint play in the context of digital media: an integrative review

Abstract The objective was to map the existing literature on the use of digital media during parent-child play and its possible impacts on domains of child development through an integrative review. Three electronic databases were consulted. The eligibility criteria included studies whose participants were parent-children, mothers-children or fathers-children (0 to 6 years). Two judges evaluated the abstracts and thoroughly analyzed according to the eligibility criteria. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was calculated to assess agreement between the two judges and found to be 0.70. Fourteen articles were selected, described, and synthesized from thematic analysis. Three themes were identified. The first, “Traditional play versus digital play”, indicated that the impacts of digital media on joint play included both positive and negative aspects. The second, “Benefits to interaction in play with digital media”, pointed out that caregivers were more sensitive, structuring, and encouraging during play with digital media. The third, “Impairments associated with play with media use”, indicated more child isolation when playing with media and less dyadic communication during play. The use of digital media in play proved to be predominantly positive, enabling rich parent-child interactions. However, attention should be paid to the quality of communication during the activity.