Impact of Exposure to Media Devices in Early Childhood on the Later Language Development: Cohort Study

Abstract

Objectives:This study aimed to investigate the influence of media exposure to children's language development as a part of a cohort study on the progressive influences and risk factors of smartphone exposure to young children. Methods: The participants were 208 children aged 3 to 5 who participated in the prospective cohort study. Children who participated in a survey on media exposure were followed up 6-12 months later and their language abilities were assessed using Receptive & Expressive Vocabulary Test (REVT) and Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale (PRES). The media exposure times according to age and media types were analyzed through a repeated two-way ANOVA. The influences of the media exposure time on the language development of the children were analyzed through a simple and a stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results: First, total media exposure time was not significantly different by age but the media exposure time was significantly different according to media devices. Television exposure time was the longest, followed by smartphone. Second, total media exposure time negatively influenced children's language development, and the influence of the 3 and 4 years group was larger than the 5 years group. According to media device, the smartphone exposure time negatively influenced on children's language development, followed by television. Conclusion:The results of this study show that the media exposure negatively influenced children's language development, especially younger children and the negative influence was larger with smartphones than other media devices. The results of this study help to identify the influence of media exposure on children's language development and have implications for developing policies against media exposure in childhood.

Differentiated Effects of Media Exposure During Preschool and Early School Ages on Later Development, Based on Media Use

“…예를 들어 학령 전 유아 의 미디어 사용은 높은 행동문제와 연관이 있다고 하였으며 (Poulain et al, 2018), 인지발달 (Hutton, Dudley, Horowitz-Kraus, DeWitt, & Holland, 2020) 및 사회성 발달 (Ostrove, Gentile, & Crick, 2006)에도 부정적 영향을 준다고 하였다. 이와 같은 미 디어 노출의 부정적 영향은 아동을 1년간 추적 관찰한 연구 (Poulain et al, 2018) 및 2～3년간 추적 관찰한 연구 (Hinkley, Timperio, Salmon, & Hesketh, 2017;Ostrove et al, 2006) Lee, Shin, Choi, Yoo, & Park, 2018). 또한 스 마트기기 사용 시작 시기가 늦을수록 유아의 자조행동, 소근 육 운동, 글자 및 전체발달 수준이 높다는 보고도 있다 (Sung, Byun, & Nam, 2015) (Hutton et al, 2020;Ostrove et al, 2006;Poulain et al, 2018)…”