The Impact of Digital Media Use and Physical Play on Expressive Vocabulary of 3-Year-Old Children and the Moderating Effect of Parent-Child Language Interaction

This study examines the impact of digital media use, physical play and parent-child language interaction on children's expressive vocabulary. Participants were 116 3-year-old children and their parents from Seoul and Gyeonggi regions in South Korea. 3-year-old children participated in expressive vocabulary tests, while their parents completed questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using STATA 18 and the following statistical methods were used: frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation, multiple regression analysis, and moderated regression analysis. Key findings of this study are as follows. First, shorter daily digital media use was associated with higher expressive vocabulary scores. On the other hand, the longer children spent playing physically everyday, the higher their expressive vocabulary scores. Second, parent- child language interaction during digital media use was found to moderate its impact on expressive vocabulary. In contrast, parent-child language interaction during physical play did not significantly moderate the relationship between physical play and expressive vocabulary. The results indicate that parent-child language interaction can help mitigate the negative effects of digital media use on expressive vocabulary. Additionally, the findings emphasize the importance of promoting healthy digital media use, physical play and language interaction habits to support early vocabulary development.