More screen time means fewer conversations between parents and children, research shows
According to new research, ‘technoference’ is real.
Toddlers who are exposed to more screen time have fewer conversations with their parents or caregivers through a range of measures. They say less, hear less and have fewer back-and-forth conversations with adults compared to children who spend less time on screens.
These findings, published on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatricsrepresent one of the first sets of longitudinal evidence to confirm an intuitive reality: screens are not only linked to higher rates of obesity, depression, and hyperactivity among children; they also limit personal interactions at home – with long-term consequences that can be worrying.
Some background: What interrupts the chatter in the household?
Researchers have long known that growing up in a language-rich environment is essential for early language development. More language exposure early in life has been linked to social development, higher IQs and even better brain function.
Given the value of such exposure, researchers in Australia were keen to explore potential factors in the home environment that could interrupt parents’ opportunities to interact verbally with their children. Previous studies on the impact of technology primarily examined a parent’s use of a mobile device, rather than a child’s use of screens, and relied on self-reported measures of screen time rather than automated monitoring.
What researchers found: Every minute counts.
The new research, led by Mary E. Brushea researcher at the University of Western Australia’s Telethon Kids Institute, collected data from 220 families in South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland with children born in 2017. Once every six months, until they were 3 years old, they wore the children T-shirts or vests with small digital language processors that automatically tracked their exposure to certain types of electronic noise, as well as the language spoken by the child, parent or other adult.
The researchers were particularly interested in three measures of language: words spoken by an adult, children’s vocalizations, and turns in conversation. They modeled each measure separately and adjusted the results for age, gender and other factors, such as the mother’s education level and the number of children living at home.
Researchers found that at almost all ages, increased screen time suppressed conversations. When the children were 18 months old, each additional minute of screen time was associated with 1.3 fewer child voices, and when they were 2 years old, an additional minute was associated with 0.4 fewer turns in conversations.
The strongest negative associations emerged when the children were 3 years old – and were exposed to an average of 2 hours and 52 minutes of screen time every day. At this age, just one additional minute of screen time was associated with 6.6 fewer adult words, 4.9 fewer child utterances, and 1.1 fewer turns in conversations.
What happens next: a look at ‘co-viewing’.
Lynn Perry, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami who was not involved in the study, said she was impressed by how the study used an objective measure to show associations that were “previously only assumed” .
Dr. Perry, who studies language and social interaction in preschoolers, says experts in the field should next explore how media designed to be viewed together by parents and children could “enable more conversation and address some of the negative aspects of screen time.” can circumvent. time.”
Sarah Kucker, an expert on language development and digital media at Southern Methodist University in Dallas who was also not involved in the study, called the analysis “impressive,” but emphasized that understanding the nuances of how and when media being used in larger and more diverse populations is “a critical next step.”
“Media is not going away,” said Dr. Kucker, “but paying attention to how and when media are used could be a bright future.”