As early exposure to digital devices becomes increasingly common, experts explain how using them could hinder children's emotional development.
ADVERTISEMENTOver the past few years, children born into the digital revolution have been surrounded by screens, sometimes even getting exposed to them from their very early moments.
One way this manifests is through the increasing tendency of parents to use digital devices as a tool to manage their children's emotions, especially negative ones.
While this method could prove effective in the short term, emerging research suggests it could significantly hinder children's emotional development, leading to long-term behavioural and emotional problems.
"Controlling emotions, or emotional regulation, improves with age and through social interactions with others. Screen devices limit the opportunities for the types of interactions necessary for developing emotional regulation," Dr Michael Nagel, associate professor of Child and Adolescent Development at the University of the Sunshine Coast, told Euronews Health.
Recently, a team of researchers from Hungary and Canada have looked into how using digital devices as a tool to stop children’s tantrums, or as "digital pacifiers," could impact children’s emotional development.
The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The study revealed that children who were frequently given digital devices during tantrums showed poorer anger management skills and more emotional regulation problems as they grew older.
"Here we show that if parents regularly offer a digital device to their child to calm them or to stop a tantrum, the child won’t learn to regulate their emotions," Dr Veronika Konok, the study’s first author, said in a statement.
The negative impact of early and regular exposure to screens isn’t only limited to its use for tantrum regulation.
Early access to digital devices in general has been a growing concern among clinicians and researchers in the field.
Dr Daniel Ganjian, a board certified paediatrician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in the US, said that excessive screen time can lead to reduced emotional regulation skills in children as they fail to develop healthy coping mechanisms due to screen distractions.
"Spending excessive time online can limit opportunities for face-to-face interaction and social development, which can lead to loneliness and social anxiety," he told Euronews Health.
Additionally, in a book he co-authored, Nagel notes that there is a growing connection between Intensive Early Screen Exposure (IESE), which refers to the use of digital devices for more than four hours per day, and the manifestation of "autistic like behaviours" in children.
He explains that "children who spend more time in virtual worlds than real ones are at risk of poorly developed social and emotional skills such as emotional regulation that can mimic autistic like behaviours".
Further research supports these findings, as researchers increasingly observed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms in young children heavily exposed to screens.
ADVERTISEMENTHowever, the symptoms they exhibited, such as hyperactivity and lack of typical facial expressions in addition to other ASD characteristics, weren’t permanent.
These symptoms were seen to disappear or significantly decline after screen exposure was removed and children participated in more face-to-face interactions with their parents.
How to limit the harmful effects of screen time on children
While it has been difficult to specify how long is too long when it comes to digital device use, there are some general warning signs parents and caregivers could look out for.
Nagel cites behavioural issues, challenges with maintaining eye contact, delays in language development, trouble sleeping, increased impulsivity, and struggles with social interactions as some of these signs.
ADVERTISEMENT"We cannot really say how much time on screens is too much time but what we can say is that children need to spend more time with real people in real time than they do on screens," Nagel said.
With an increasing number of studies linking digital devices to impairing children’s emotional development, there are some measures that could be followed to limit these effects.
Ganjian suggests parents should set clear limits on screen time, designate device-free zones and times along with encouraging physical activity, creative play, and social interaction more.
Additionally, he added that setting an example for the kids is also important, and parents are encouraged to be mindful of their own device use around their children and to also work together with them to develop healthy habits
ADVERTISEMENT"By most measures and increasing evidence, children between the ages of 0-2 should not be on screens. From 2-5 years of age no more than one hour per day co-viewing with a parent or sibling. And from 5-17 generally no more than two hours per day, except maybe for school related work," Nagel recommended.
He added that to prevent the development of mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and even self-harm, social media access should be restricted before the age of 16.
"Children and teens need real friends in real time, not hundreds of ‘friends’ in cyberspace. They also need to be present in the real world rather than forever elsewhere in a virtual world," Nagel said.
