This post is part of our series on digital media and children under 3, published in collaboration with the magazine, Infant behavior and development. The featured research appeared in a special edition which focused on how young children interact with technology and ways parents can facilitate media engagement to promote positive development.
Key Takeaways on Toddler’s Screen Time for Caregivers
- Research shows that most toddlers spend a significant amount of time looking at screens – an average of about 4 hours a day.
- Toddlers who spend more time looking at screens, such as television, videos, and digital games, may have less expressive language skillsor the ability to express oneself verbally.
- Caregivers can support language development by having conversations with their child during or after screen time, and by engaging in high-quality language interactions without screens at other times of the day (e.g., during transportation, during meals).
Why screen time can affect toddlers’ language development
Young children quickly learn words by interacting with them environmentlike by conversations with their carers. However, how much language children are exposed to in the home environment varies widely between families, which contributes to the differences in school readiness between children from low- and middle-income backgrounds. Children’s screen time, including watching television and videos and playing digital games, is an early experience that may be related to their language development.
Many researchers have theorized about the impact of screen time on young children’s language development. First, high levels of screen time can be replaced interaction with a caregiver who can respond and elicit responses of children. This bespoke back-and-forth interaction, or response quotaaffects learning and let children practice their language skills.
Photo: Thomas Cochrane. Creative Commons.
Second, although some media products for toddlers are marketed as Educationalevidence suggests that children this age have difficulty learning from media, perhaps because videos are often simpler than real-life experiences and replace rich real-world stimuli. This can be especially important for toddlers from low-income families, who are likely to experience high levels of media attention and are most at risk delay in language development.
Studying screen time and language in toddlers
To investigate the relationship between screen time and toddlers’ language development, we conducted a study who asked two questions:
- How much screen time do toddlers from low-income families experience?
- Is the amount of screen time related to toddler language development?
Our research used data from the Children in Columbus Study, a longitudinal study of two- and three-year-olds from the Midwestern United States living in poverty (i.e., 185% of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines). We collected data on 157 toddlers; 54% were Black, 47% were White, and 8% were Hispanic (respondents could select all races and ethnicities that applied).
More screen time was associated with lower levels of toddler language skills.
Caregivers completed surveys about toddlers’ screen time on an average weekday (e.g., watching programs, videos, and DVDs in front of the TV; playing video games; using computers, mobile phones, handheld video games, tablets, smartphones, and other electronic devices) . About six months later, we observed toddlers’ language skills by taking a standardized measure of what words toddlers understood and which words they could speak.
How much screen time do toddlers from low-income families experience?
The toddlers’ amount of screen time varied. While some families reported little to no screen time, a significant proportion reported more than 8 hours per day. The average amount of daily screen time was almost 4 hours. This finding is similar to nationally representative data showing that the daily screen time for children under the age of eight living in low-income homes was 3.5 hours.
Photo: Karolina Grabowska. Pexels.
More screen time was related to lower levels of expressive language
Next, we tried to determine whether toddlers’ amount of screen time was related to their language development. We measured language development by looking at toddlers’ scores on two tests: the Bayley scales of infant and toddler development and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. More screen time was associated with lower levels of toddler language skills.
Interestingly, screen time was only related to toddlers expressive language (ie their ability to express themselves verbally) and not their receptive language (ie how well they understand when others talk to them) or vocabulary (ie the words they understand). Screen time can affect children’s ability to use language on their own because it can replace the opportunity to practice speaking, such as conversations with a caregiver or other adults.
How can caregivers support children’s early language development during screen time?
These days it’s a challenge, and probably not necessary or advisable, to avoid all screen time. Still, caregivers can take several steps to support children’s language development in the context of our digital world.
It’s challenging and probably not necessary or advisable to avoid all screen time.
First, carers can participate in screen time with the child. They can talk to their child about what they see or do on screens. Second, they can engage in high-quality language interactions without screens at other times of the day (for example, during transport, during meals). And third, because not all screen content is created equal, caregivers can monitor what children are using and help them find it high-quality programming, including educational shows and applications. Informal carers can look at sources informed by research, such as Common Sense mediato find age-based recommendations.
Our finding that more screen time was related to lower levels of expressive language proficiency is especially important because children from low-income families are already at risk for language delay and lower levels of school readiness than their peers from middle- and upper-income families. More screen time could further widen this gap. Researchers may benefit from comparing relationships between screen use and language development in children from other income levels (e.g., middle and high income).
In addition, researchers should investigate whether educational media use or media use with an adult is less likely to be associated with lower levels of language proficiency than use of screen time for entertainment or alone. Studies could also explore possible interventions to support caregivers in providing stimulating language environments for children and keeping screens a fun, but not overpowering, part of their lives.
