Screen time and the development of emotion understanding from age 4 to age 8: A community study

Abstract

Recent increase in children's screen activities has raised concerns that screen time may replace face-to-face interaction, and hence impair children's development of emotion understanding. This longitudinal community study of 960 Norwegian 4-yearolds, followed up at ages 6 and 8, examined bidirectional relations between screen use and emotion understanding. Results revealed that more screen time at age 4 predicted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 6. In addition, television in children's bedroom at age 6 forecasted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 8. The effect of TV watching on emotion understanding was gender moderated, with stronger effects of TV watching observed among girls, but no significant effects detected among boys. In contrast, gaming forecasted lower level of emotion understanding in boys, not girls. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of face-to-face interaction to preserve the development of social-emotional competence among young children. Statement of contributionWhat is already known on this subject?We know that children's screen activities correlate with poorer social competence and with decrease of the quantity and quality of interaction with parents and siblings. The capacity to understand emotions in others is primarily learned through interaction with primary caregivers, but little is known how children's screen use influences development of emotion understanding.What the present study adds?We found that more TV watching among girls at age 4 predicted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 6. Furthermore, TV in child's bedroom at age 6 forecasted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 8.

Immediate impact of fantastical television content on children’s executive functions

“…The effects of media exposure, particularly screen‐based exposure such as watching television, on children’s developmental outcomes have been much debated in the media and research literature with researchers examining factors such as screen time, number of household televisions, and television programme content on development (Kostyrka‐Allchorne, Cooper & Simpson, ). Impairing effects have been reported on a range of aspects of development including sleep duration and timing (Hale & Guan, ), obesity (de Jong et al , ), and psychological function such as emotion understanding (Skalická, Wold Hygen, Stenseng, Kårstad, & Wichstrøm, ). Other researchers have reported no negative effects of television exposure on children’s development (Lee, Spence & Carson, ; Stevens & Mulsow, ).…”

Infant behavioural effects of smartphone interrupted parent‐infant interaction

“…Time spent in front of a screen is time lost for social interactions (Skalická et al, 2019). Based on our present data, we are inclined to state the same about parental smartphone use while interacting with the infant.…”

El uso excesivo de pantallas está asociado con labilidad emocional en niños preescolares

“…Es posible que pasar tiempo usando pantallas e interactuando con ellas en lugar de con los padres u otros seres humanos reduzca el tiempo en que los niños pueden practicar sus habilidades para reconocer las emociones de los demás y experimentar las emociones suscitadas al interactuar con otros. Skalická y cols., 18 sugirieron que la exposición prolongada a pantallas podría afectar los procesos de socialización de los niños pequeños y derivar en una menor capacidad para comprender las emociones. La RE se plantea como la capacidad de modulación emocional que permite que las personas establezcan la relación más adecuada con el entorno.…”