Research on the relationship between parental media literacy and preschool children’s quality of learning in the new media environment

This study explores the influence of parental media literacy on preschool children's quality of learning, by focusing on the mediating role of democratic parenting styles in the relationship between the two factors and the group differences of the mediating model in different lengths of screen exposure time. Through a questionnaire-based methodology, the media literacy, parenting style, learning quality, and screen exposure time of 603 parents of preschool children in southern China were acquired. The results show that: (1) After controlling for age and monthly income, 3 media literacy has a significantly positive predictive effect on preschool children's quality of learning; (2) Democratic parenting can play a mediating role in the relationship between parents' media literacy and preschool children's quality of learning; (3) The mediating model of parental media literacy on preschool children's quality of learning has specific group differences in different lengths of screen exposure time. It is concluded that parents' media literacy can improve preschool children's quality of learning through democratic parenting, and there are group differences in mediating effects in different lengths of screen exposure time. Parents and educators should be aware of the impact of environments with media use on children.