Digital Screen Time Limits and Young Children's Psychological Well‐Being: Evidence From a Population‐Based Study

Abstract

There is little empirical understanding of how young children's screen engagement links to their well-being. Data from 19,957 telephone interviews with parents of 2- to 5-year-olds assessed their children's digital screen use and psychological well-being in terms of caregiver attachment, resilience, curiosity, and positive affect in the past month. Evidence did not support implementing limits (< 1 or < 2 hr/day) as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, once variability in child ethnicity, age, gender, household income, and caregiver educational attainment were considered. Yet, small parabolic functions linked screen time to attachment and positive affect. Results suggest a critical cost-benefit analysis is needed to determine whether setting firm limits constitutes a judicious use of caregiver and professional resources.

“I cannot live without my [tablet]”: Children's experiences of using tablet technology within the home

“…Research exploring the actual experiences of children in the context of their daily use of digital technology is somewhat limited (Galpin & Taylor, 2018). Developing a clearer picture of the experiences associated with the use of digital technology in the home, as well as the associated issues could lead to effective strategies to help manage screen-use among children (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017). One key recommendation from previous research is to engage in the use of qualitative methods to explore children's current media practices and their experiences of using digital technology (Galpin & Taylor, 2018).…”

Vision status of children aged 7 - 15 years referred from school vision screening in Norway during 2003 - 2013: a retrospective study

“…To keep up with learning and expected academic performance, children now need to spend more time reading and accessing digital information [11]. Furthermore, from a much earlier age, children spend more time using digital devices in their spare time [10][11][12][13][14]. This increases the workload on the visual system, especially the ability to sustain clear vision at near for longer periods at a time.…”

Parents’ Degree and Style of Restrictive Mediation of Young Children’s Digital Gaming: Associations with Parental Attitudes and Perceived Child Adjustment

“…Indeed, the growing presence of touchscreen devices strongly increases young children's media consumption and their gaming behavior in particular. Developmentally speaking, gaming behavior is a double-edged sword with both advantages and disadvantages (Granic, Lobel & Engels, 2014;Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017a. On the positive side, gaming devices support the sensory and motor skills of very young children; skills that in turn facilitate children's independent use of these devices (Holloway, Green, & Livingstone, 2013) and their problem-solving skills more generally (Adachi & Willoughby, 2013).…”