Staring at screens leaves kids struggling to speak properly
By Study Finds
In today’s digital age, screens are everywhere. From smartphones to tablets, televisions to gaming consoles, children are growing up with their eyes glued to glowing little boxes several hours a day. Unfortunately, a new study finds this is ruining their ability to communicate with others. Researchers at the University of Tartu in Estonia have found that regular screen use by both parents and children has a link to deteriorating language skills among kids.
The study, conducted by Tiia Tulviste and Jaan Tulviste, focused on Estonian families with children between two-and-a-half and four years-old. Their findings suggest that higher total screen time for children contributes to poorer vocabulary and grammatical skills. In fact, none of the screen-based activities that children or parents engaged in, including viewing screens together and socializing time, had a positive impact on language skills.
One of the most striking findings was the impact of video games. Playing video games had a negative association with children’s language skills, regardless of whether it was the child, mother, or father doing the gaming. This suggests that the type of screen activity matters just as much as the amount of time spent staring at screens.
“Our study reveals that children’s screen use patterns are similar to those of their parents,” says Dr. Tiia Tulviste of the University of Tartu, lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology. “Child language researchers emphasize the importance of everyday interactions with adults in early language development, where children are actively involved. At the same time, we know that all family members tend to their screen devices. Because time is finite, we need to find out how this fierce competition between face-to-face interaction and screen time affects child language development.”
The researchers identified three distinct family screen use profiles: low, moderate, and high users. These profiles differed not only in screen time but also in parental education levels and children’s language skills. Children from families with low screen use tended to have higher vocabulary and grammatical scores compared to those from high-use families.
These findings underscore the importance of considering the entire family’s screen habits when addressing child language development. It’s not just about limiting a child’s screen time; parents’ screen use patterns also play a crucial role.
“While reading ebooks and playing some educational games may offer language learning opportunities, especially for older children, research shows that during the first years of life, the most influential factor is everyday dyadic face-to-face parent-child verbal interaction,” says Tulviste.
So, what does this mean for families? While the study doesn’t prove that screen time directly causes language delays, it suggests that excessive screen use might be taking away from valuable language-learning opportunities. Young children learn language primarily through face-to-face interactions and back-and-forth conversations with adults. When screens dominate family time, these crucial interactions may be reduced.
However, it’s important to note that not all screen time is created equal. Educational content, interactive apps, or video chats with family members might have different effects than passive TV watching or solo gaming. The key seems to be balance and mindful use of screens.
For parents concerned about their children’s language development, the study suggests that reducing overall family screen time, especially on weekends, might be beneficial. Engaging in more face-to-face conversations, reading books together, or playing interactive games without screens could provide richer language-learning experiences for young children.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers used two main tools to gather data. First, they used a Screen Time Inventory, where parents reported how much time they, their partner, and their child spent on various screen activities during a typical weekend day. Second, they used the Estonian Communicative Development Inventory-III (ECDI-III) to assess children’s language skills. This inventory asks parents to report on their child’s vocabulary and grammar use. The researchers then used statistical methods to analyze the relationships between screen use and language skills and to identify common patterns of family screen use.
Key Results
The study found that, on average, children spent 1.8 hours, mothers 4 hours, and fathers 4.3 hours daily with screen devices on weekends. Higher screen time for children was associated with lower vocabulary and grammar scores. Interestingly, fathers’ screen time was negatively associated with children’s grammar skills, while mothers’ wasn’t. Gaming, in particular, showed negative associations with language skills for all family members.
Study Limitations
First, it’s cross-sectional, meaning it only provides a snapshot in time and can’t prove cause-and-effect relationships. Second, the data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have changed family screen use habits. Third, all data, including fathers’ screen use, were reported by mothers, which could introduce bias. Lastly, the study only included families where children lived with both parents.
Discussion & Takeaways
The researchers emphasize that their findings highlight the need for family-based interventions when addressing screen time in the context of child language development. They suggest that considering both the amount and type of screen activities families engage in is crucial when evaluating a child’s language development environment at home. The study also reinforces the idea that children’s screen use patterns often mirror those of their parents, underlining the importance of whole-family approaches to managing screen time.
Funding & Disclosures
The research was supported by a grant from the Estonian Research Council (grant number PRG1761). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Study Finds
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