How gadgets affect the development of children: what has shown a new study

What a new study has found about children’s screen time

Published on September 28 in the American medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, a study showed that the use of gadgets by children is associated with reduced academic performance, delayed speech development, emotional problems and difficulties in relationships with peers. At the same time, the relationship was not traced in all measured parameters: in particular, it was not revealed in the analysis of academic performance in individual subjects - mathematics, natural science and reading. The findings are based on an umbrella review of 23 meta-analyses that cover data from more than 2.8 million children in 64 countries.

Crisis psychologist Sophia Sulim called these conclusions quite convincing, because, according to her, in psychology there is an evidence-based relationship between academic performance and the time spent by children at gadgets. “I think there’s a lot of truth to that,” she said of the study.

Pediatric neuropsychologist Natalia Naumova noted the persuasiveness of the statistical part of the study, but stressed that it does not reveal direct causal relationships. “What is lacking here to talk about causal relationships? This requires some sample: some children have never used gadgets, others used gadgets. Additional factors are needed, she added.

How gadgets can affect the development of a child

Excessive use of gadgets can lead to a deterioration in academic performance and health problems in a child, said the head of the Department of Psychology of the Institute of Social Engineering of the Russian State University named after A.N. Kosygin Natalia Kalinin. Thus, a quick change of frames when watching short videos prevents the development of sustained attention, and the habit of dynamic content weakens volitional control. At risk are also tasks that require logical thinking, since the brain does not form the habit of establishing cause-and-effect relationships, and clip thinking, meanwhile, complicates consistent reasoning.

In addition, the use of gadgets is accompanied by a rapid release of dopamine. Getting used to a quick reward makes it difficult to overcome difficulties and get pleasure from this process, which reduces the motivation of the child to study. “That is, no special effort has not made — has already received a reward,” — said Naumova. According to Sulim, rapid dopamine also leads to mental stress in the child, as he is not yet able to control his emotions.

“A dependence may also develop. For physical health, there is a risk of mismatching the work of the visual analyzer, visual impairment, motor inactivity. For mental health, the predominance of excitement over inhibition in mental processes, emotional swings, communication difficulties offline, Kalinina added.

Among other consequences of screen time for the child is sleep disturbance. “There are studies confirming that blue light from the screen suppresses the production of melatonin, which shifts the circadian rhythm and the child does not get enough sleep,” said Naumova. She recommended limiting the use of gadgets an hour before bedtime for both children and adults.

The causal relationship between screen time and child development is obvious, says Marina Bardyshevskaya, associate professor in the Department of Neuro- and Patopsychology of the Faculty of Psychology of Lomonosov Moscow State University. At the same time, she continues, the symptoms and severity of developmental disorders vary depending on age, as well as how early the child began to spend time behind the screen and how much time he spends there. According to Naumova, if a child already has emotional and behavioral difficulties, the uncontrolled use of gadgets will aggravate them.

At what age can children not use gadgets

Sulim advised not to give smartphones to children under three years of age, because in the first three years of life, the development of the child is “the highest rate ever in life.” After that, you should severely limit the use of the gadget until six to seven years. According to Kalinina, up to three years would be good without screens, and then limit screen time in accordance with the recommendations of pediatricians.

Naumova believes that at the age of two, the use of gadgets should be completely excluded, while “literally five to ten minutes of video calls with close relatives are allowed so that the child interacts with them.” In her opinion, children should be introduced to gadgets as late as possible. “No need to rush. Children become dependent very quickly. This is interesting, and it interferes with their development, she said in a conversation with RBC.

Today, children first encounter gadgets at the age of two to three months, as soon as they focus their eyes, while such early acquaintance is unproductive and can be harmful, Kalinina warned. The fact that early and excessive use of gadgets can cause severe intellectual disabilities, warns Bardyshevskaya.

“All thinking is making connections in different modalities and dimensions. If the screen is flat, you will get a flat, detached person from the world. I’ve seen a lot of kids like this, including heavy ones. If you start giving gadgets later, at three, four, five, six or seven years old, then you get such a traditional client of psychiatrists, and later he will be prescribed drugs for hyperactivity, attention deficit, he will have fears, obsessions. From the point of view of Bardyshevskaya, it is better to allow children to freely use gadgets after 12 years, since in adolescence they have a backbone of personality and have a certain emotional stability.

How much screen time is allowed for children

According to the recommendation of Naumova, for children two to five years of screen time should not exceed one hour, optimally - 30 minutes, and for children 6-12 years - from one and a half to two hours a day. At the same time, it is better to strictly dose and divide into small segments of 10-15 minutes, accompanying them with physical activity, since gadgets dull children’s mental activity.

For this reason, the neuropsychologist recommended that parents adhere to the rule: how much time the child spent behind the screen, the same amount he should then move. “Sitting 15 minutes at the computer — 15 minutes of charging. Or run, or jump, or go to the yard to walk and move. This is necessary to restore mental activity, she said.

What can be considered “useful” screen time

According to Kalinina, “useful” screen time involves the controlled use of gadgets for training and recreation with the obligatory subsequent discussion of the viewed. At such screen time, according to Naumova, can include educational content or a short cartoon for joint viewing with parents, after which adults should help the child to analyze what he saw, what it made an impression on him and what feelings he experienced.

The “useful” screen time can also include the use of training applications that assume maximum activity of the child. For older children, content that encourages you to think, analyze, compare and compare what you see with reality can be useful. It is important that content has a beginning and an end, Naumova said. “And scrolling tape is just unhealthy, harmful screen time,” added Sulim.

Meanwhile, Bardyshevskaya stressed that the child should learn primarily from people. “Of course, there are educational programs, but children have a surplus of energy, they should have enough of this energy on a living person, and gadgets should be used in the background,” she said.