Young children's ability to disengage from program viewing vs. app play and the role of self-regulation

Despite growing concerns from caregivers and educators about young children's self-regulatory challenges surrounding screen-based activities (e.g., “tech-tantrums”), contemporary and nuanced understandings of early self-regulation in digital contexts remain limited. The current study examined how children's self-regulation is implicated in their ability to transition away from a digital device, and whether this differed by screen-based activity type (program viewing vs. app play; based on the two most prominent forms of early childhood digital recreation). Using a novel ‘digital disengagement’ paradigm, 101 children aged 3-5 years engaged in either digital program viewing (n = 55) or app play (n = 46). Two behavioural indices were assessed: time taken to completely disengage and level of independence in disengaging. Results indicated moderate associations of these indices with a measure of children's global self-regulation (i.e., HTKS), such that children with lower self-regulation scores took longer time and required greater adult support (i.e., reminders or mediation) during transitions. No significant effect of screen-based activity type or interaction between self-regulation and activity type were observed in time and independence in digital disengagement. Nonetheless, post hoc descriptive evidence illustrated different patterns of disengagement behaviours between program viewing and app play. Moving beyond over-simplified indices such as caregiver-reported ‘screen time’, this study contributes to emerging evidence about whether, when, under what conditions, and for whom self-regulation influences digital choices and behaviours.