INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XVII November 2025| Special Issue on Psychology  
Exploring Factors Contributing to the Decline of Prosocial Behavior  
in Early Childhood in the Digital Era: A Systematic Literature  
Review  
Dziyaaul Haqqi Ahmad*, IGAA Noviekayati, Suhadianto  
Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya, Indonesia  
*Corresponding Author  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.917PSY0076  
Received: 04 December 2025; Accepted: 09 December 2025; Published: 22 December 2025  
ABSTRACT  
Declining prosocial behavior among young children (ages 3–6) has become an increasingly significant issue in  
the digital era and the post–COVID-19 period. This systematic literature review (SLR) synthesizes current  
evidence on the factors contributing to this decline, focusing on parental phubbing, excessive screen exposure,  
the impact of the pandemic, parenting patterns, and socio-cultural changes. Following PRISMA2020 guidelines,  
literature searches were conducted through Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, and national  
repositories (GARUDA, Neliti). Of 346 identified articles, 15 met inclusion criteria after rigorous screening and  
methodological quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and CASP tools. Thematic narrative  
synthesis revealed four major clusters of contributing factors: (a) technological distraction and parental  
phubbing, which weaken emotional bonding; (b) excessive digital media exposure reducing opportunities for  
social interaction; (c) pandemic-related isolation diminishing natural social learning; and (d) unresponsive  
parenting and limited social play opportunities in early childhood education settings. These trends appear  
consistently across global and Indonesian contexts. Findings highlight the need for family- and school-based  
interventions to strengthen emotional connection, restore peer interaction, and promote digital literacy.  
Implications for early childhood education, parenting, and policy development are discussed.  
Keywords: Prosocial behavior, early childhood, parental phubbing, screen time, COVID-19 pandemic, digital  
media exposure  
INTRODUCTION  
Prosocial behavior, defined as voluntary actions intended to benefit others such as helping, sharing, cooperating,  
and showing empathy, represents a fundamental component of early childhood social–emotional development.  
These behaviors emerge rapidly between the ages of 3 and 6, laying the groundwork for peer relationships,  
emotional regulation, moral reasoning, and long-term well-being. During this developmental window, children  
rely heavily on modeling from caregivers and peers, as well as consistent interaction within their physical and  
social environments.  
In recent years, concerns have grown regarding a visible decline in prosocial behavior among preschool-aged  
children worldwide. Teachers report increasing tendencies toward individualistic play, difficulty sharing,  
reduced empathy, lower cooperation, and heightened emotional reactivity in early childhood classrooms. Similar  
patterns have been reported in Indonesia, where early childhood educators have observed post-pandemic  
regressions in children’s social skills, including reluctance to collaborate, difficulties in turn-taking, and reduced  
sensitivity to peers’ emotions.  
Several societal shifts appear to be contributing to these changes. The rapid expansion of digital technology has  
transformed parenting and childhood landscapes. Parental phubbing, defined as ignoring children due to mobile  
phone use, has been recognized as a subtle yet significant form of emotional unavailability that disrupts  
attachment processes. Excessive screen exposure among children has similarly replaced opportunities for  
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XVII November 2025| Special Issue on Psychology  
interactive, two-way social engagement with passive, solitary digital consumption. At the same time, the  
COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced children’s access to social environments, limiting peer interaction  
and altering family dynamics through heightened stress, economic strain, and increased reliance on digital  
devices.  
These conditions intersect with broader cultural and structural dynamics. Urbanization, shifts toward nuclear-  
family living, increasing academic demands in preschool settings, and the diminishing role of traditional  
communal play have collectively reshaped the social ecosystem in which children develop. As a result, children  
experience fewer sustained, emotionally rich interactions that support the development of prosocial tendencies.  
Given these wide-ranging societal changes, a systematic examination of the contemporary evidence is needed.  
While individual studies have explored specific factors such as parental phubbing, pandemic effects, or screen  
time, an integrated synthesis focusing on early childhood prosocial behavior remains limited. This systematic  
literature review addresses this gap by analyzing current empirical evidence from 2019 to 2025 to identify and  
categorize the major factors contributing to the decline of prosocial behavior in early childhood.  
The review provides a comprehensive synthesis of (a) technological and digital factors, (b) parenting and  
attachment processes, (c) pandemic-related disruptions, and (d) educational and socio-cultural determinants. It  
aims to generate a conceptual understanding of how these factors influence prosocial development and to offer  
evidence-based implications for parents, educators, and policymakers. This is crucial for shaping effective early  
childhood interventions and for guiding national efforts to strengthen children’s social–emotional competencies  
in an increasingly digital world.  
METHOD  
Design  
This study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach to synthesize empirical evidence on factors  
contributing to the decline of prosocial behavior in early childhood. The review followed the Preferred Reporting  
Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines to ensure methodological rigor,  
transparency, and replicability.  
Search Strategy  
A comprehensive search was conducted across six major international databases, Scopus, Web of Science,  
PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, and SpringerLink, and two Indonesian repositories (GARUDAand Neliti). Searches  
were performed between September and November 2024. Boolean operators, controlled vocabulary (e.g., MeSH  
terms), and truncation were used to maximize search sensitivity.  
Core search keywords included combinations of:  
“Prosocial behavior” OR “prosociality”  
“Early childhood” OR “preschool children” OR “children aged 3–6”  
“Parental phubbing” OR “digital distraction”  
“Screen time” OR “digital media exposure”  
“COVID-19 pandemic” OR “post-pandemic”  
“attachment” OR “parent–child interaction”  
An example Boolean string used in PubMed:  
("prosocial behavior" AND "early childhood") AND ("phubbing" OR "screen time" OR "digital media" OR  
"COVID-19").  
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
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Manual research was also conducted by screening reference lists of highly relevant articles.  
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria  
Articles were included if they met the following criteria:  
1. Published between 2019 and 2025.  
2. Empirical study (quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, or experimental).  
3. Focused on children aged 3–6 years.  
4. Examined prosocial behavior or closely related constructions (e.g., empathy, helping, sharing,  
cooperation).  
5. Investigated contributing factors such as parental behaviors, pandemic impacts, screen exposure, or  
classroom environments.  
6. Published in peer-reviewed journals in English or Indonesian.  
Articles were excluded if they:  
1. Focused on children outside the 3–6 age range.  
2. It did not include prosocial outcomes.  
3. Were review articles, dissertations, theoretical papers, or conference abstracts.  
4. Lacked sufficient methodological clarity.  
Study Selection Process  
The selection followed four PRISMA stages:  
1. Identification:  
A total of 346 articles was retrieved from all search sources.  
2. Screening:  
After removing duplicates (n = 102), 244 articles remained.  
Titles and abstracts were screened, resulting in exclusion of 181 unrelated or ineligible studies.  
3. Eligibility:  
Sixty-three full-text articles were assessed for eligibility.  
Forty-eight were excluded due to age mismatch, irrelevant variables, or insufficient prosocial measures.  
4. Inclusion:  
Finally, 15 studies met all criteria and were included for synthesis.  
Quality Assessment  
Two standardized tools were used to evaluate methodological quality:  
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XVII November 2025| Special Issue on Psychology  
Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklists for cross-sectional, qualitative, and  
experimental studies.  
Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) for cohort and mixed-method designs.  
All included studies met minimum quality thresholds with clear sampling procedures, well-defined variables,  
and appropriate analytical approaches. Studies with unclear measures of prosocial behavior were scrutinized but  
retained if reliability and validity could be established.  
Data Extraction and Synthesis  
Key information extracted included:  
Author, year, and country  
Research design and sample characteristics  
Type of prosocial behavior measured  
Primary factors investigated  
Main findings  
Relevance to the decline of prosocial behavior  
Data were synthesized using a thematic narrative approach, allowing integration across diverse methodologies.  
Themes were developed iteratively, guided by ecological systems theory and social learning perspectives to  
interpret patterns and build conceptual connections among findings.  
RESULTS  
This section presents the synthesized results of the 15 studies included in the review. The findings are organized  
into key thematic domains describing factors that contribute to the decline of prosocial behavior in early  
childhood. A summary table of all reviewed studies is provided at the end of this section. Below are Summary  
of Articles’ quality used in this research, Table 1.  
Table 1. Summary of Articles’ quality used in this research.  
No Author  
Year  
& Research  
Design  
Assessment  
Tool  
Key  
(summary)  
Assessed  
Aspects Quality  
Score (%)  
Category  
High  
1
Shi  
et  
al. Cross-  
sectional  
JBI  
Clear  
objectives,  
strong 92%  
(2024)  
Observational  
Checklist  
statistical analysis, adequate  
control  
of  
moderating  
variables  
2
3
4
Xu  
(2023)  
et  
al. Family  
survey  
JBI  
Valid  
reliability,  
instruments,  
minimal  
desirability bias  
high 88%  
social  
High  
Observational  
Checklist  
Al-Mehmadi  
et al. (2024)  
Descriptive  
quantitative  
JBI  
Clear measurement of child 86%  
behavior, strong correlational  
analysis  
High  
Observational  
Checklist  
Zhao et al. Cross-  
(2022) sectional  
JBI  
Adequate  
control of contextual factors  
design,  
limited 78%  
Moderate  
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
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5
Oppermann et Longitudinal  
al. (2024)  
JBI  
Strong  
temporal  
validity, 95%  
High  
adequate respondent tracking,  
sample attrition <10%  
6
7
8
9
Jing  
(2024)  
et  
al. Meta-  
analysis  
JBI  
Tool  
Review Systematic literature search, 93%  
strong heterogeneity analysis  
High  
Carlo et al. Cross-  
(2021)  
JBI  
Well-controlled variables, but 84%  
not longitudinal  
High  
sectional  
Rhee et al. Quantitative  
(2022)  
JBI  
High instrument reliability, 85%  
detailed sample description  
High  
survey  
Kristiana  
(2024)  
Mixed-  
method  
CASP  
Qualitative  
Checklist  
Good  
data  
triangulation, 80%  
Moderate  
moderate reflexivity  
10  
Harianti  
Kurniawan  
(2022)  
& Phenomenolo CASP  
High  
interview  
depth, 88%  
High  
gical  
qualitative  
transparent thematic analysis  
11  
12  
Cahyani  
(2024)  
Observationa  
l survey  
JBI  
Moderate  
reliability, low bias control  
measurement 76%  
Moderate  
High  
Nawangsih et Experimental JBI  
Clear  
randomization, 94%  
al. (2023)  
Experimental  
significant intervention effects  
Checklist  
13  
Kim & Lee Observationa  
JBI  
Valid  
observations,  
generalizability  
naturalistic 83%  
limited  
High  
(2023)  
l
14  
15  
Kurnia (2023) Exploratory  
qualitative  
CASP  
JBI  
In-depth analysis, but small 79%  
sample size  
Moderate  
High  
Błachnio et al. Correlational  
Strong multivariate analysis, 82%  
potential self-report bias  
(2024)  
quantitative  
Overview of Included Studies  
The final dataset comprised 15 empirical studies published between 2019 and 2025. These studies were  
conducted across diverse cultural contexts, including China, South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Poland, the  
United States, and Indonesia. Designs included cross-sectional surveys, longitudinal studies, experiments,  
mixed-method approaches, and one meta-analysis.  
Across studies, prosocial outcomes encompassed helping, sharing, empathy, cooperation, kindness, and  
emotional sensitivity. Most studies used validated observational scales or parent/teacher reports; some  
incorporated experimental tasks to measure cooperative behavior.  
Theme 1: Parental Phubbing and Digital Distraction  
Seven studies highlighted parental phubbing, the act of ignoring a child due to mobile phone use, as a significant  
predictor of reduced prosocial behavior. Research in China and South Korea (e.g., Shi et al., 2024; Xu et al.,  
2023) showed that parental phubbing disrupts emotional attunement and weakens attachment bonds. Children  
whose interactions are frequently interrupted by parental device use demonstrated:  
lower empathy,  
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
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increased social withdrawal, and  
lower likelihood of helping or sharing.  
These effects were consistent across cultural contexts, including Indonesia (Harianti & Kurniawan, 2022), where  
parents often underestimated how digital distraction affects emotional availability. Overall, phubbing emerged  
as one of the strongest predictors of prosocial decline.  
Theme 2: Excessive Screen Time and Digital Media Exposure  
Five studies reported strong associations between excessive screen exposure and reduced prosocial behavior.  
Children who spent more than 2 hours per day on passive digital media (Al-Mehmadi et al., 2024; Zhao et al.,  
2022) showed:  
reduced emotional understanding,  
limited eye-contact engagement,  
decreased cooperative play,  
lower helping and sharing tendencies.  
Findings suggest that digital content displaces natural social learning opportunities. Emotionally rich, face-to-  
face interactions, critical for empathy development, are replaced by solitary, fast-paced stimuli. Indonesian data  
(Kristiana, 2024) indicated similar patterns, with teachers noting increased impatience and difficulty taking turns  
among children with high screen exposure.  
Theme 3: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic  
Four studies (e.g., Oppermann et al., 2024; Jing et al., 2024) highlighted the lingering effects of the pandemic  
on preschoolers’ social–emotional functioning. Post-pandemic children exhibited:  
delays in sharing,  
reduced cooperation,  
increased shyness and avoidance of peer interaction,  
emotional dysregulation.  
Pandemic-related isolation reduced children’s access to peer play, which is essential for developing perspective-  
taking and cooperative behavior. Indonesian educators similarly reported that children returning to school  
showed increased individualism and weaker social resilience (Cahyani, 2024).  
Theme 4: Parenting Patterns and Family Emotional Climate  
Several studies emphasized the importance of warm, consistent, and responsive parenting in cultivating prosocial  
behavior. Parenting styles characterized by warmth and structure (Carlo et al., 2021; Rhee et al., 2022) were  
associated with higher empathy and cooperative tendencies. Conversely, post-pandemic family stress, parental  
burnout, and digital overload (Kurnia, 2023) reduced parents’ emotional availability.  
Children raised in such environments displayed:  
emotional insecurity,  
reduced empathy,  
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more reactive behaviors, and  
lower social cooperation.  
The findings imply that parenting style alone is insufficient; the quality of emotional presence is crucial.  
Theme 5: Educational Environment and Social Play Opportunities  
Four studies examined the role of early childhood education settings in supporting prosociality. Evidence from  
Indonesia and South Korea (Kim & Lee, 2023; Nawangsih et al., 2023) showed that:  
collaborative play,  
role-play scenarios,  
teacher–child responsive interactions, and  
structured storytelling activities  
significantly improved helping, sharing, and empathy.  
However, increasing academic pressure and reduced free play time limit children’s opportunities to practice  
prosocial behavior naturally. Teachers reported that children with limited social experiences outside school  
struggled more with cooperative tasks.  
Synthesis of Findings  
Overall, the results indicate that the decline in prosocial behavior among young children is not attributable to a  
single cause but emerges from the interaction of multiple environmental and relational factors. The most  
influential factors across studies include:  
1. Disrupted attachment due to parental digital distraction.  
2. Reduced real-life social engagement due to excessive screen exposure.  
3. Pandemic-induced social isolation and emotional stress.  
4. Decreased emotional availability within families.  
5. Limited opportunities for social learning in educational settings.  
Collectively, these factors weaken the relational and experiential foundations necessary for empathy,  
cooperation, and social responsibility. Below are Summary of Empirical Studies Included in the Systematic  
Review (2019–2025), Table 2.  
Table 2. Summary of Empirical Studies Included in the Systematic Review (2019–2025)  
No. Author(s) & Country  
Year  
Design  
Sample  
& Focus of Study  
Key Findings  
Relevance  
Declining  
Prosocial  
Behavior  
to  
1
Shi  
(2024)  
et  
al. China  
Cross-sectional;  
412 children phubbing  
ages 4–6 and child prosocial and  
Parental  
Phubbing  
Digital parental  
and reduced empathy distraction  
helped; weakens  
attachment emotional bonds,  
parents  
behavior  
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mediated  
effect.  
the lowering  
prosociality.  
2
3
Xu  
(2023)  
et  
al. South  
Korea  
Survey;  
preschool  
families  
320 Phubbing,  
Phubbing  
Emotional  
lower detachment  
contributes  
and reduced prosocial  
social behavior.  
attachment, and predicted  
social  
functioning  
attachment  
security  
higher  
to  
withdrawal.  
Al-Mehmadi Saudi  
et al. (2024) Arabia  
Quantitative;  
Screen time and >2 hrs/day screen Excessive screen  
250  
children socio-emotional time linked to exposure  
ages 3–6  
behavior  
reduced empathy replaces  
social  
and helping.  
learning  
contexts.  
4
5
6
7
Zhao et al. China  
(2022)  
Cross-sectional;  
385 children  
Digital  
use  
emotional  
development  
media Passive  
and viewing impaired reduces  
empathy and opportunities for  
digital Media  
overuse  
social sensitivity.  
real interaction.  
Oppermann  
et al. (2024)  
Germany  
Longitudinal;  
187  
preschoolers  
COVID-19  
impact  
prosocial  
behavior  
Post-pandemic  
on children showed disrupts  
delays in sharing prosocial  
Social  
isolation  
natural  
and cooperation.  
development.  
Jing et al. Multiple  
Meta-analysis  
Global  
pandemic  
effects  
Pandemic  
Confirms  
(2024)  
(18  
decreased global widespread post-  
countries)  
socio-emotional  
functioning.  
pandemic  
prosocial decline.  
Carlo et al. United  
(2021) States  
Cross-sectional;  
268  
preschoolers  
Parenting styles Warm, structured Parental  
and prosociality parenting  
increased  
emotional quality  
strongly predicts  
and prosociality.  
empathy  
helping.  
8
Rhee et al. South  
Quantitative  
survey  
Parenting,  
emotion  
Responsive  
parenting  
Emotion  
regulation  
(2022)  
Korea  
regulation, and improved  
mediates  
prosocial  
behavior  
emotional  
regulation  
prosocial  
and development.  
prosocial actions.  
9
Kristiana  
(2024)  
Indonesia  
Mixed methods; Play  
versus Active  
media improved sharing value of social  
play Emphasizes  
72  
across  
children digital  
six habits  
and cooperation.  
play in prosocial  
development.  
preschools  
10  
Harianti  
Kurniawan  
(2022)  
& Indonesia  
Qualitative; 12 Parental  
Parents  
in unaware  
are Digital  
of reduces  
neglect  
parents  
phubbing  
Indonesian  
households  
phubbing’s  
emotional  
impact.  
emotional  
presence  
children.  
for  
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11  
Cahyani  
(2024)  
Indonesia  
Teacher survey; Post-pandemic  
Increased  
individualism  
and  
Post-pandemic  
regression in  
reduced social  
80  
PAUD behavior  
changes  
teachers  
cooperation  
observed.  
functioning.  
12  
13  
Nawangsih  
et al. (2023)  
Indonesia  
Experimental;  
45 children  
Collaborative  
play  
intervention  
Role-play  
storytelling  
increased helping strengthen  
behaviors.  
and Structured social  
activities  
prosociality.  
Kim & Lee South  
(2023)  
Observational  
Teacher–child  
interaction  
quality  
Responsive  
teachers  
enhanced  
empathy  
Classroom  
relational climate  
affects prosocial  
Korea  
and growth.  
cooperation.  
14  
15  
Kurnia  
(2023)  
Indonesia  
Qualitative  
interviews  
Parenting  
Stress and digital Lower  
parental  
challenges post- overload reduced warmth predicts  
COVID-19  
parental warmth.  
lower  
child  
prosociality.  
Błachnio et Poland  
al. (2024)  
Quantitative  
Digital  
and empathy  
media Higher media use Digital  
correlated with immersion  
lower prosocial weakens  
behavior. sensitivity.  
social  
DISCUSSION  
The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize contemporary empirical evidence on the factors  
contributing to the decline of prosocial behavior among children aged 3–6 years in the digital era. Across fifteen  
studies conducted between 2019 and 2025, a consistent pattern emerged: prosocial behavior is declining not  
because of a single cause, but because of intersecting technological, familial, educational, and socio-cultural  
disruptions. This discussion integrates findings across these domains and offers a conceptual interpretation of  
how these forces collectively shape early prosocial development.  
Disrupted Parent–Child Interaction in the Digital Environment  
The most prominent theme across the reviewed literature is the disruption of parent–child interaction due to  
digital device use, particularly parental phubbing. Studies from China, South Korea, and Indonesia consistently  
demonstrated that parental phubbing undermines children’s attachment security, emotional attunement, and  
opportunities to observe prosocial models. These findings align with attachment theory, which emphasizes the  
importance of sensitive, responsive caregiving as a foundation for empathy and social behaviors.  
Digital distraction creates an interactional void during critical developmental windows. Although parents may  
be physically present, their emotional presence is fragmented. This leads to subtle forms of emotional neglect,  
reducing opportunities for children to practice sharing, responding to emotions, and receiving immediate  
feedback about social cues. The evidence suggests that the digital environment does not merely compete with  
children's attention; it competes with parental attention, creating a relational deficit that directly influences  
prosocial behavior.  
Excessive Digital Media Exposure and Reduced Social Learning  
Digital media exposure emerged as a strong predictor of reduced prosociality. Studies showed that extended  
screen time, particularly passive, fast-paced digital consumption, displaces the social interactions essential for  
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developing empathy, cooperation, and perspective-taking. For young children, learning prosocial behavior is  
inherently experiential; it requires real-time feedback, negotiation, turn-taking, and shared attention.  
Excessive screen use interrupts this learning process in several ways. First, digital content offers unilateral  
stimulation without reciprocity. Second, high-frequency exposure to rapid visual stimuli reduces patience and  
increases impulsivity, which are counterproductive for cooperative play. Third, children accustomed to solitary,  
digital engagement may lack opportunities to practice conflict resolution or emotional sensitivity in social  
contexts. Findings from Indonesia reinforce these global trends, with teachers reporting increased difficulty in  
children’s ability to wait, share, and collaborate.  
Lingering Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic  
Another key factor contributing to declining prosocial behavior is the disruption caused by the COVID-19  
pandemic. Global and local studies show that prolonged isolation, reduced peer interaction, and heightened  
family stress weakened the environmental support necessary for prosocial development. During lockdowns,  
children experienced fewer opportunities for social negotiation, shared play, and collaborative problem-solving,  
contexts that typically scaffold prosocial skills.  
The pandemic also amplified digital reliance within families, further diminishing face-to-face interactions. When  
children returned to school, many exhibited reduced cooperation, avoidance of peer interaction, and difficulty  
adapting to group norms. These findings highlight that prosocial deficits are not merely temporary behavioral  
adjustments but may reflect deeper developmental gaps resulting from environmental deprivation during  
formative years.  
Emotional Climate of the Family and Parenting Patterns  
Parenting patterns continue to be a central determinant of prosocial behavior. Studies demonstrate that warm,  
consistent, and responsive parenting increases empathy and cooperative tendencies. However, the digital era  
presents new challenges. Parents report stress, economic pressures, and multitasking demands that decrease their  
emotional availability. Post-pandemic fatigue and pervasive digital engagement further reduce opportunities for  
emotionally rich interactions.  
This underscores a critical distinction: prosocial behavior does not grow solely from parental intentions but from  
the quality of moment-to-moment interactions. When parental warmth is compromised, whether due to stress,  
distraction, or burnout, children’s emotional regulation and prosocial tendencies weaken. Thus, effective  
parenting in the digital era requires not only using positive strategies but also managing personal and  
environmental stressors that interfere with emotional presence.  
Educational Settings and Reduced Opportunities for Social Play  
Schools serve as secondary but powerful environments for prosocial development. Collaborative play,  
responsive teacher–child interactions, and structured storytelling have been shown to strengthen children’s  
helping, sharing, and empathy. However, educational systems in many countries, including Indonesia, are  
increasingly shifting toward academic preparation at the expense of unstructured social play. This reduces  
opportunities for children to engage in natural prosocial learning.  
Teachers also face increased responsibilities and limited time to facilitate social–emotional activities. The  
reduction in traditional communal play, which historically supported cooperative norms, reflects a broader  
cultural shift toward individualism in childhood contexts. Without deliberate support from educational  
environments, children’s prosocial tendencies may continue to decline.  
Integrated Conceptual Model of Prosocial Decline  
Synthesizing the findings, the evidence supports a multi-factor developmental pathway:  
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digital distraction → reduced parental emotional availability → weakened attachment → diminished empathy  
→ lower prosocial behavior.  
This pathway is further amplified by:  
excessive screen exposure,  
loss of peer socialization during the pandemic,  
parental stress and burnout,  
declining opportunities for social play,  
shifting socio-cultural norms in early childhood.  
Prosocial behavior is therefore best understood as an emergent property of children's relational ecosystems.  
When these ecosystems are disrupted, prosocial development weakens.  
Broader Socio-Cultural Implications  
Although the decline in prosocial behavior is global, the Indonesian context shows unique implications.  
Traditional values of communal cooperation (gotong royong) historically strengthened children’s prosocial  
foundations. As digital lifestyles and urbanization reshape family dynamics, these communal values may be  
diminishing, leading to fewer natural opportunities for cooperative play and community involvement.  
This suggests that the decline in prosocial behavior is not solely an individual developmental issue, but a  
reflection of broader cultural transitions in modern childhood.  
CONCLUSION  
This systematic review examined contemporary empirical findings on the decline of prosocial behavior among  
children aged 3–6 years in the digital era. Across fifteen studies conducted in various cultural contexts, a clear  
pattern emerged: prosocial behavior is weakening due to converging shifts in technological engagement, family  
dynamics, educational environments, and socio-cultural structures.  
The evidence consistently shows that digital distractions, especially parental phubbing, disrupt the emotional  
availability essential for secure attachment and early empathy development. Excessive screen exposure further  
reduces opportunities for real-life social learning, replacing reciprocal interactions with passive digital  
consumption. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified these disruptions, limiting children’s exposure to peer play  
and increasing parental stress, which further weakened the emotional climate at home.  
Parenting factors, particularly emotional warmth and consistency, remain central to prosocial development.  
However, these parenting strengths are increasingly challenged by digital overload, work demands, and lingering  
post-pandemic fatigue. In educational settings, the reduction of free play and the rise of academic expectations  
limit opportunities for collaborative activities that naturally foster prosocial behaviors such as sharing, helping,  
and cooperating.  
Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the decline in prosocial behavior is not the result of individual  
deficits but is shaped by broader relational, environmental, and cultural transformations. Prosociality grows  
through sustained, emotionally rich, and socially interactive experiences, conditions that are increasingly  
compromised in modern childhood. Addressing this decline requires intentional efforts across family, school,  
and policy systems to restore children’s opportunities for meaningful connection, empathetic engagement, and  
collaborative play.  
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Practical Implications  
The findings of this review highlight the need for coordinated interventions across families, schools, and policy  
environments to support the development of prosocial behavior in early childhood. The decline in prosociality  
is rooted not only in individual behavior but in the shifting relational and technological landscapes that shape  
children’s daily experiences. The following implications aim to inform us about practice and guide strategic  
decision-making.  
Implications for Parents  
Prosocial development begins in the home, where children first learn emotional regulation, empathy, and  
cooperative behavior through responsive interactions. The evidence suggests that parents can take several  
corrective steps to counteract the effects of digital disruption:  
1. Prioritize emotional availability.  
Reducing parental phubbing by setting device-free periods, such as during meals, playtime, or bedtime, can  
restore consistent, attuned interactions.  
2. Rebuild daily relational routines.  
Activities such as shared storytelling, reflective conversations, and cooperative play can strengthen emotional  
connection and model prosocial behavior.  
3. Manage children’s screen exposure.  
Establishing limits on passive screen time and encouraging interactive, relational activities support social  
learning and emotional attunement.  
4. Strengthen emotion coaching.  
Helping children label, express, and understand emotions fosters empathy and improves conflict resolution.  
Parents play a foundational role in shaping children’s early prosocial tendencies. Strengthening the quality of  
family interactions is essential to reversing the observed decline.  
Implications for Early Childhood Educators  
Schools provide structured environments where prosocial behavior can be modeled, practiced, and reinforced.  
The reviewed studies suggest several actionable strategies:  
1. Increase collaborative play opportunities.  
Role-play, cooperative games, block-building, and group problem-solving activities support cooperation, turn-  
taking, and empathy.  
2. Embed social–emotional learning (SEL) in daily routines.  
Teachers can incorporate simple SEL practices, such as morning check-ins, emotion recognition tasks, or  
empathy-focused discussions, to reinforce prosocial skills.  
3. Enhance teacher responsivity.  
Warm, sensitive teacher–child interactions are correlated with greater empathy, helping behavior, and moral  
reasoning.  
4. Balance academic expectations with social development.  
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Overemphasis on early academics reduces natural opportunities for peer interaction. Integrating play-based and  
inquiry-based learning can restore these opportunities.  
Educators are positioned to counterbalance the effects of home and societal disruptions by intentionally  
cultivating relational and cooperative experiences.  
Implications for Policymakers  
The decline in prosocial behavior has long-term implications for community well-being, social cohesion, and  
national development. Policy-level responses can play a critical role in mitigating this trend.  
1. Promote digital hygiene guidelines for families.  
National campaigns can raise awareness about the impact of parental phubbing, excessive screen exposure, and  
the importance of device-free interactions.  
2. Strengthen early childhood education standards.  
Policies should emphasize social–emotional development alongside academic goals, ensuring that schools  
allocate sufficient time for collaborative play.  
3. Support post-pandemic recovery programs.  
Programs designed to rebuild children’s social skills, such as peer play initiatives, community-based family  
activities, and teacher training, can accelerate socio-emotional recovery.  
4. Integrate family digital literacy into PAUD curricula.  
Supporting parents with guidelines, workshops, and practical strategies helps reduce digital overuse and  
strengthen parent–child relationships.  
Policy interventions that address both environmental conditions and parental practices can help create a  
supportive ecosystem for prosocial development.  
Implications for Future Community and Cultural Efforts  
The decline of prosociality reflects broader cultural shifts, including growing individualism and digital  
immersion. Community-based efforts may help revive collective values such as empathy and cooperation by:  
encouraging traditional games and communal activities,  
promoting parent–child involvement in social and religious events,  
fostering neighborhood cohesion through playgroups and local initiatives.  
These community-driven practices can help restore shared social spaces where children naturally develop  
prosocial habits.  
Limitations And Future Directions  
Limitations  
Although this review provides a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary evidence on the decline of prosocial  
behavior in early childhood, several limitations should be acknowledged.  
1. Predominance of Cross-Sectional Designs  
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Most included studies used cross-sectional methodologies, which limit the ability to infer causal relationships.  
While consistent associations were found between parental phubbing, screen exposure, and reduced prosociality,  
the directionality of these effects cannot be conclusively established. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify  
how early experiences shape prosocial trajectories over time.  
2. Variation in Measurement of Prosocial Behavior  
The reviewed studies used diverse instruments and operationalizations of prosociality, ranging from parent-  
reported questionnaires to teacher observations and experimental tasks. This heterogeneity may affect  
comparability across findings and may obscure subtle variations in specific prosocial components such as  
empathy, sharing, or cooperation.  
3. Limited Representation from Certain Cultural Contexts  
While the review includes studies from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Indonesia, there remains a lack of  
representation from other regions, such as Africa and South America. Prosocial behavior is culturally embedded,  
and global patterns may vary depending on community norms, parenting traditions, and socio-economic  
conditions.  
4. Incomplete Exploration of Digital Content Quality  
Most studies focused on the quantity of screen time rather than the quality of content. Different types of digital  
media, educational, interactive, violent, or fast-paced, likely exert distinct influences on social development.  
Without examining content characteristics, interpretations of screen effects remain limited.  
5. Indonesian Research Still Developing  
Indonesian studies in this area remain relatively few and often rely on small samples or qualitative designs.  
Larger-scale, nationally representative research is needed to accurately map the state of prosocial development  
across diverse regions of the country.  
Future Directions  
To advance understanding and inform intervention strategies, future research should consider the following  
priorities:  
1. Longitudinal and Experimental Studies  
Longitudinal designs are necessary to establish causal links between early experiences, such as parental  
phubbing or digital exposure, and later prosocial outcomes. Experimental or quasi-experimental interventions  
can test the efficacy of specific strategies for improving prosocial behavior.  
2. Neural and Cognitive Mechanisms  
Future studies could explore the neurocognitive pathways through which digital media and disrupted attachment  
affect empathy, emotion regulation, and social cognition. Integrating developmental psychology with  
neuroscience would provide deeper insight into the mechanisms underlying prosocial decline.  
3. Detailed Analysis of Digital Media Content  
Research should distinguish between interactive, educational, and passive content, as each likely influences  
prosocial behavior differently. Understanding which types of digital experiences are beneficial or harmful will  
allow for more precise recommendations.  
4. Family-Level Interventions  
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Intervention studies are needed to test whether reducing parental phubbing, improving emotional  
communication, or teaching digital hygiene can enhance prosocial behavior. Such studies would bridge the gap  
between theory and practical application.  
5. School-Based Social–Emotional Programs  
Future work should evaluate the impact of structured social–emotional learning (SEL) curricula, collaborative  
play models, and teacher training on prosocial development in early education settings.  
6. Culturally Grounded Research  
Cultural norms strongly influence prosocial expectations and practices. More cross-cultural and locally grounded  
studies, particularly within diverse Indonesian contexts, are needed to better understand how socio-cultural  
transitions affect children’s social development.  
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