The relationship between parental digital self-efficacy, preschoolers' electronic media use, and learning quality—variable-centered and person-center analysis

Background Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study investigated how parental digital self-efficacy relates to preschoolers' learning quality and whether children's electronic media use helps explain this association. Methods Data were collected from 1,484 kindergarten children and their parents using the Parental Digital Self-Efficacy Scale, the Preschoolers' Learning Quality Questionnaire, and the Children's Electronic Media Use Questionnaire. We conducted both variable-centered analyses to test mediation pathways (positive vs. negative electronic media use) and person-centered analyses to identify parental digital self-efficacy profiles and compare their associations with children's learning quality. Results Variable-centered results showed that parental digital self-efficacy significantly enhanced children's learning quality primarily through promoting positive electronic media use, whereas negative use showed only a weak inhibitory effect; the positive-use pathway explained substantially more variance than the negative-use pathway. Person-centered analyses identified five parental digital self-efficacy profiles (information-limited, low-efficiency and lagging, information-coordinated, well-balanced versatile, and safety-pragmatic). Using the information-limited profile as the reference, the low-efficiency and lagging profile significantly and negatively predicted children's learning quality, whereas the well-balanced versatile profile significantly and positively predicted it; children's electronic media use partially mediated these profile-learning quality associations. Conclusion Parental digital self-efficacy appears to be a meaningful lever for improving preschoolers' learning quality, largely by fostering children's positive (rather than merely reducing negative) electronic media use; interventions may benefit from targeting specific parental self-efficacy profiles to promote developmentally supportive digital practices.