According to the study, published According to a study by Japanese researchers in JAMA Pediatrics, one-year-olds spending more than four hours a day in front of a screen show developmental delays. This later creates socialisation difficulties and reduces mental activity between ages 2 and 4.
The results also showed that one-year-olds who spent more time in front of screens than their peers displayed delays in fine motor, personal and social skills at age two. However, their abilities had improved by age four.
The researchers note that the devices themselves were not shown to cause the problems: the authors only found an association between greater screen time and developmental delays. Experts say this pattern may be explained by the value of personal interaction time for young children.
David J. Lewkowicz, a developmental psychologist at the Yale Child Study Center, said face-to-face interaction between parent and child is crucial to providing infants with a rich array of information, including how facial expressions, words, tone of voice and physical feedback combine to convey language and meaning. "This does not happen when you look at a screen," he added.
The Japanese researchers' findings came from questionnaires on development and screen time for nearly 8,000 children. Statistics showed that children with more screen time were often born to first-time mothers in low-income families with lower educational levels, or mothers who experienced postnatal depression.
Only 4% of infants were reportedly exposed to screens for four or more hours daily, while 18% spent between two and under four hours a day in front of screens, and most less than two hours.
The study found a dose-response association: the more screen time infants were given, the more likely they were to show developmental delays.
The authors added that the study did not distinguish between screen time used for learning and screen time more focused on entertainment. Future studies should examine this aspect.
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Olesya Mayevskaya