Seeing and Hearing YouTube: Linking Media Design to Children’s Attention Span and Viewing Control

To examine how audiovisual characteristics of YouTube content are associated with children’s attention span and viewing control, we conducted a two-wave longitudinal survey in 2023 and 2024. The final analytical sample consisted of 195 Korean parents of children aged 4 to 6 whose children reported the same most frequently viewed YouTube channel across both waves. Videos from children’s most frequently viewed YouTube channels were coded for visual (scene changes and special effects) and audio (dialogues and sound effects) features. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results indicated that greater exposure to visual and auditory features in Year 1 content was associated with lower levels of children’s attention span and viewing control one year later. Dialogues, an audio feature, demonstrated the strongest negative association with both children’s attention span and viewing control. These findings highlight the importance of considering the design features of children’s digital media when examining associations between media environments and children's attentional and self-regulatory behaviors.