Screen time and developmental health: results from an early childhood study in Canada

Abstract

Background Research has shown that longer hours of screen time are negatively associated with children’s healthy development. Whereas most research has focused on school-age children, less is known about this association in early childhood. To fill this gap, we examined the association between screen time and developmental health in preschool-aged children. Methods This study draws from a data linkage on children (N = 2983; Mean age = 5.2, SD = 0.3 years, 51% male) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, who entered Kindergarten in public elementary schools in 2019. Parent reports on children’s screen time, health behaviors, demographics, and family income collected upon kindergarten entry (09/2019), were linked to teacher reports on children’s developmental health, collected halfway through the school year (02/2020). Screen time was assessed with the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire. Developmental vulnerability versus developmental health in five domains (physical, social, emotional, language and cognition, and communication skills) was measured with the Early Development Instrument. Results Logistic regression analyses using generalized estimating equation showed that children with more than one hour of daily screen time were more likely to be vulnerable in all five developmental health domains: physical health and wellbeing (odds ratio [OR] =1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 - 2.0; p=0.058), social competence (OR=1.60; 95% CI, 1.16 – 2.2; p=0.004), emotional maturity (OR=1.29; 95% CI, 0.96 - 1.73; p=0.097), language and cognitive development (OR=1.81; 95% CI, 1.19 - 2.74; p=0.006) and communication skills (OR=1.60; 95% CI, 1.1 – 2.34; p=0.015) compared to children reporting up to one hour of screen time/day. An interaction effect between income and screen time on developmental health outcomes was non-significant. Results were adjusted for child demographics, family income, and other health behaviors. Conclusions Daily screen time that exceeds the recommended one-hour limit for young children, as suggested by the Canadian 24-h Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (Tremblay et al. BMC Public Health. 17:874, 2017; Tremblay J Physical Activity Health. 17:92–5, 2020) is negatively associated with developmental health outcomes in early childhood. Screen-based activities should thus be limited for young children. Future research needs to examine the underlying mechanisms through which screen time is linked to developmental vulnerabilities.

Cross‐sectional and prospective associations between screen time and childhood neurodevelopment in two Brazilian cohorts born 11 years apart

“…This has been demonstrated in previous studies, which found that passive screen time was associated with worse psychological, health and educational outcomes, whereas educational and interactive screen time were associated with higher education-related outcomes (Sanders et al, 2019). For instance, in the language domain, background television was found to be negatively associated with language skills, whereas educational programs were positively associated with language skills (Madigan et al, 2020) rodevelopment such as maternal stimulation, which were often overlooked in previous studies (Kerai et al, 2022;Zhao et al, 2022).…”

“…Considering the mean screen time observed in 2015 cohort was 4.4 h, it would be expected that any changes in mean neurodevelopment scores due to screen time exposure would be very small. Overall, previous studies that have sought to investigate the potential impacts of total screen time on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children (Kerai et al, 2022; Madigan et al, 2019; Madigan et al, 2020; Radesky & Christakis, 2016; Ribner et al, 2020; Sanders et al, 2019; Stiglic & Viner, 2019; Supanitayanon et al, 2020; Zimmerman & Christakis, 2005) also showed weak evidence that the total amount of screen time negatively impacts cognitive development or is associated with poorer educational attainment (Stiglic & Viner, 2019).…”

“…The measurement of different types of screen time provided an opportunity to improve understanding of how different screens may impact child neurodevelopment. The adjusted models included in the analyses took into account the important correlations of screen time and child neurodevelopment such as maternal stimulation, which were often overlooked in previous studies (Kerai et al, 2022; Zhao et al, 2022).…”

“…Considering the mean screen time observed in 2015 cohort was 4.4 h, it would be expected that any changes in mean neurodevelopment scores due to screen time exposure would be very small. Overall, previous studies that have sought to investigate the potential impacts of total screen time on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children(Kerai et al, 2022;Madigan et al, 2019;Madigan et al, 2020; T A B L E 3 Association between early neurodevelopment and screen time on the 2004 and 2015 Pelotas cohorts.…”

Exploring the perception of parents on children’s screentime: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

“… 5 There is evidence suggesting the positive effects of ST, particularly with interactive ST, which can improve children’s reading development, 6 and foster learning abilities. 7 , 8 Evidence has also suggested excessive ST being linked to detrimental developmental health effects, 9 involving language, cognitive, social, and physical developmental setbacks. 10 Hence, ST and its impact on children require further exploration.…”