The Impact of Parental Media Attitudes and Mediation Behaviors on Young Children’s Problematic Media Use in China: An Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model Analysis

Young children’s problematic media use (PMU) is a growing concern, and parents are critical in shaping early digital habits. However, research often overlooks the dyadic interplay between mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes and parenting practices. This study examined how parents’ favorable attitudes toward child screen media (PASU) predict their own (actor) and their partner’s (partner) mediation behaviors, and how these behaviors subsequently mediate the path to children’s PMU. Drawing on survey data from 1802 matched urban Chinese mother–father pairs, we employed an Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. This dyadic model simultaneously tested actor, partner, and indirect mediation paths connecting parental attitudes to PMU via eight specific parenting practices. Results showed that more positive PASUs predicted each parent’s own supportive behaviors (e.g., high-quality dialogue, autonomy support) but not restrictive limits. Partner effects were modest and asymmetric: mothers’ positive attitudes predicted greater knowledge in fathers, whereas fathers’ positive attitudes were linked to lower communication quality from mothers. Of all parenting dimensions, only higher communication quality (both parents) and mothers’ hands-on monitoring directly predicted lower PMU. Mediation analyses confirmed communication quality as the sole reliable pathway: each parent’s favorable attitudes indirectly lowered PMU by enhancing their own dialogue, but fathers’ attitudes simultaneously increased PMU by eroding mothers’ dialogue. These findings spotlight constructive conversation and coordinated dyadic strategies—especially safeguarding maternal dialogue—as critical targets for interventions aimed at curbing early PMU.