Significant parental stress has been associated with increased screen time among young children.
- Studies have already reported an association between excessive use of screens and an increased risk of overweight, obesity, difficulties in language development and delay in cognitive development.
- In France, screen time is on average 49 minutes at 2 years old, 1 hour 09 minutes at 3 and a half years old and 1 hour 23 minutes at 5 and a half years old, which far exceeds health recommendations.
- A new study has found that when parents reported being more stressed, they also reported that their children spent more time watching television, tablets, computers, game consoles and cell phones.
According to new research published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviorchildren’s screen time is positively associated with their parents’ stress.
Stress and screen time in children: 462 parents included in the study
The study involved 462 young parents of children under 3 years old and took place over a period of 10 months. Data on stress levels and screen time were collected from adults on four different occasions. The majority of participants came from Switzerland.
The results showed that when parents reported being more stressed, they also reported that their children spent more time watching television, tablets, computers, game consoles and cell phones.
Furthermore, parents who had a good opinion of these everyday objects allowed their little ones to use them much longer. Parents who did not trust digital technology gave their children 9.5 minutes of screen time during periods of low stress. This figure increased slightly to 10 minutes during periods of high stress. Conversely, parents with a positive opinion towards these broadcast media gave their offspring 17.5 minutes of screen time during times of low stress. The duration increased to around 28 minutes during times of high stress.
In France, screen time is on average 49 minutes at 2 years old
The World Health Organization and the Academy American Pediatricians recommend not exposing children under 2 years old to screens, then limiting the time to 1 hour per day between 2 and 5 years old.
Deleterious effects of screen use in childhood and early childhood have already been highlighted in the scientific literature. “Studies notably report an association between excessive use of screens and an increased risk of overweight, obesity, difficulties in language development and delay in cognitive development”specifies Public Health France.
In France, screen time is on average 49 minutes at 2 years old, 1 hour 09 minutes at 3 and a half years old and 1 hour 23 minutes at 5 and a half years old.
