• Parent-based applications (apps) are an emerging trend for helping parents and caregivers create stimulating early home learning environments for their young children.
• New evidence shows that a digital app-based intervention can boost parents’ self-efficacy for supporting their child’s development in the first 1,000 days.
• Researchers need to build the evidence base on the impact of parent-based apps.

This article will explore baby parenting apps and their effectiveness through the six following elements:

1. The importance of a baby’s first 1,000 days
2. Supporting the early home learning environment
3. The growing presence and popularity of parent-based apps
4. Evaluating a new parent-based app
5. Using the parent-based app increased parental self-efficacy
6. Parent-based apps may be a promising avenue for education

1. The importance of a baby’s first 1,000 days

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to age two, are an important period for child development. For example, although the human brain continues to develop and change throughout life, the first 1,000 days are a period of rapid brain development. However, during this time large differences across a range of child outcomes begin to emerge between children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and their peers from more affluent backgrounds. One reason for these differences is that disadvantaged children are less likely to experience high-quality early home learning environments.

Photo: PNW Production. George Pak, Pexels.

2. Supporting the early home learning environment

High-quality early home learning environments typically consist of early play and learning opportunities, including parents and caregivers engaging with their young children through play and verbal responsiveness. Research shows that in-person interventions that help parents and caregivers understand how to create stimulating and supportive early home learning environments can significantly benefit parenting knowledge and practice.

Digital interventions can have significant benefits for parents and caregivers in their child’s first 1,000 days.

These interventions can also support strong parent-child interactions, such as increasing parents’ sensitivity and responsiveness to their child’s interests and needs when playing and communicating with them. Interventions have also been shown to improve child development outcomes.

New digital technologies, in the form of parent-based applications (apps) used on smartphones or tablets, have recently emerged as a way to increase access to these supportive services for parents.

3. The growing presence and popularity of parent-based apps

Parent-based apps are primarily designed to be used by parents or caregivers. They are intended to encourage offline interactions and learning opportunities with children. The number of parent-based apps available to download has grown significantly, from three apps released in 2010 to between 42-46 new apps per year between 2018 and 2020.

This is also a rapidly growing sector with venture capital investments currently worth nearly $1.4 billion.

However, very little research has evaluated the impact of these new digital technologies during children’s first 1,000 days. This research is needed to help parents and other stakeholders make informed decisions about whether this kind of support is suitable for their needs.

Photo: PNW Production. Pexels.

4. Evaluating a new parent-based app

To address this gap, I evaluated a new parent-based app in a pilot randomized control trial with parents of children from birth to six months old in the United Kingdom. (The opportunity for this study arose from a previous collaboration with the app developer).

The app includes 1,026 daily age-appropriate activities for parents to choose from across eight areas of child development, such as language, socioemotional, sensory, and physical/ motor skills. Each of the activities explains to parents what to do and how to do it, using low-cost resources easily accessible in most homes.

In our study, we sought to understand whether the app could help boost parents’ self-efficacy during their child’s infancy. Parental self-efficacy encompasses parents’ beliefs or judgments about their ability to be successful in their role as caregiver. It helps guide their interactions with their young child and plays an important role in the parent-child relationship, as well as in child development outcomes and parents’ mental health. We focused on parents of children aged 0-6 months because of the emerging evidence on parental self-efficacy in the earliest months, as well as the availability of parental self-efficacy measures in this age range.

What research has shown

Research has shown that parent interventions aimed at increasing parents’ skills and knowledge also boost parents’ self-efficacy. In our study, we asked whether digital delivery of parent education, through the parent-based app activities, would also positively affect parent self-efficacy.

Parent-based apps could offer an accessible and affordable solution for boosting parents’ self-efficacy and improving the early home learning environment.

Randomized Control Trial Design

Seventy-nine parents of children from birth to six months took part in the study. On average, parents were 33 years old and children were three-and-a-half months. Parents were recruited from a convenience sample, and mostly consisted of White British mothers with a university-level education.

Half of the parents were randomly assigned to the treatment group and were asked to use the app with their child every day for four weeks. The other half were assigned to the active control group and were sent weekly e-mails that contained three activity ideas. The activities were selected from the ideas in the app, but the e-mails provided only brief descriptions of what to do for each activity. No additional details were provided, and activities were not tailored to the age or stage of development of the child as they were in the app.

5. Using the parent-based app increased parental self-efficacy

Ninety percent of parents in the treatment group reported feeling “confident” or “very confident” on all the standardized questions about parental self-efficacy. This group’s self-efficacy ratings were also significantly higher than those of the active control group. Moreover, in the treatment group, those who used the parent-based app more times per week over the four-week period also reported greater self-efficacy.

6. Parent-based apps may be a promising avenue for accessible parent education

This new evidence establishes proof of concept that digital interventions can have significant benefits for parents and caregivers in their child’s first 1,000 days. Given the widespread use of mobile phone technology by adults around the world, these parent-based apps could offer an accessible solution for boosting parents’ self-efficacy and improving the early home learning environment.

Photo: RDNE Stock project. Pexels.

Researchers need to continue to build the evidence base for the effectiveness of parent-based apps. For example, studies can help establish the impact of these innovations on child development outcomes as well as with parents from different backgrounds.

Our results are limited to the specific parent-based app we evaluated. Additional research is needed to evaluate the quality and impact of other parent-based apps and to identify which specific content or features are most beneficial. Researchers should also examine how parent-based apps can be disseminated most effectively, such as through partnerships with early childhood education and care providers.

It is important to ask questions about the effectiveness of parent-based apps, including under what circumstances they are most suitable and for whom they work best.

The post Baby parenting apps: A new way to help caregivers in their child’s first 1,000 days appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• Building healthy relationships with technology involves not only protecting youth, but also supporting their positive experiences online.
• Helping middle schoolers navigate the digital world involves strategies similar to those used for their in-person activities: monitoring, spending time on the internet together when possible, educating them about risks, and communicating.
• Ongoing communication is critical. Talk about your values and expectations, ask what young users are doing online, and listen to how they feel about those experiences.
• Parents cannot do it alone. Digital technology companies and policymakers need to ensure that the online spaces where young people spend their time support healthy development while also keeping them safe.

Protecting and supporting youth on the internet are both important

Parents often ask what they can do to protect their children online. This is a good question. But another important question that should be asked is how can we better support our youth on the internet?

As mothers to tweens and teens, we are always looking for ways to protect our children from harm. One of us is also a developmental psychologist who has studied adolescents’ mental health for more than two decades, learning that we need to both protect and support our children – particularly around the middle school years as they make the transition to adolescence and into online spaces.

This is why we recently released a report on what research tells us about amplifying the benefits of digital technology for this age group and calling on technology companies and policymakers to adopt an evidence-based approach to protecting and supporting youth. But even as we urge technology creators to do better, there are steps parents and other caregivers can take to both protect and support positive digital technology use for young people.

Promoting healthy development and well-being with positive online experiences

Early adolescence (from about 10 to 13 years old, or the middle school years) is an important window when positive experiences that support learning and connection can affect development. Going on the internet to create, contribute, or connect can be a positive experience for young people. Online experiences offer new spaces for adolescents to express their creativity, explore who they are and where they fit in, support causes they care about and connect with peers in ways that can enhance their relationships.

Co-viewing, creating, and participating in online spaces can open opportunities for positive joint experiences and allow parents to identify any risks or content that makes them uncomfortable.

Encouraging these kinds of positive experiences online does not require an entirely new set of parenting skills. Instead, parents can use strategies similar to those used when children walk out the door to go to school or hang out at the park with their friends. Parents cannot be everywhere or see everything. But they can find out who their children are with, what they are doing, and how they feel about it, which can reduce problems. This kind of monitoring and communication can also help youth as they navigate the online world.

Keeping youth safe on the internet

Parents should consider some critical issues to ensure their children are engaging with online content safely. During early adolescence, when youth are particularly sensitive to social feedback and belonging, increased exposure to bullying, pornography, unhealthy body images, and harmful targeted advertising can have amplified effects.

Parents should also be aware that some adolescents, for example, those with mental health problems and those who may already be struggling with body image issues, may be more susceptible to viewing negative content on the internet and having negative online experiences than their peers. Knowing your child is key.

Caregivers should also understand that technology use also leaves a digital trace that can follow young people into adulthood by creating a type of permanent record of images and comments that would otherwise be forgotten or excused due to age and immaturity.

Moreover, sleep is critical to physical health, mental health, and learning during adolescence, so families should limit late-night technology use that gets in the way of youth getting more than eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

Photo: Andrea Piacquadio. Pexels.

How parents and caregivers can support and protect youth by making the internet a safer place

Parents and caregivers can make the internet a safer place by:

1. Monitoring and being aware
2. Going on the internet together when possible
3. Educating young people
4. Communicating with young people
5. Using helpful resources

1. Monitoring and being aware

Unlike physical places youth may go that are out of parents’ sight, digital technology provides opportunities to monitor where youth have been online, ideally with youths’ knowledge and consent. Parental controls – such as content filters, time limits, and applications that allow monitoring of online activities – can help.

2. Going on the internet together when possible

Viewing, creating, and participating in online spaces together can open opportunities for positive joint experiences and allow parents to identify risks or content that makes them uncomfortable.

3. Educating young people

Parents can explain the potential risks of digital technology use, discussing the importance of keeping personal information safe and of moderating screen time to make room for in-person activities. Developing a family media plan with your child can help start a conversation about the types of activities and platforms children are allowed to spend time on, and will allow young adolescents to have input into any rules that may govern their use.

4. Communicating with young people

Talking to your child about what they are seeing or experiencing on the internet should become part of daily conversations. When youth are exposed to age-inappropriate content or encounter problematic experiences like cyberbullying or social rejection, having an adult to talk to can make a difference. (Common Sense Media offers prompts to start talking, from conversations about activities to more specific concerns about emotional health and negative feelings.)

5. Using helpful resources

Parents and teachers can access a growing list of resources to help support children online, including:

• The One Mind PsyberGuide provides a teen-specific guide to online mental health applications.
• Common Sense Media resources support parents navigating traditional and new forms of media engagement.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics has a guide to creating a family media plan.
• Teens and Tech Center provides education and resources for parents, educators, and teenagers.

Designing technology to support young people

Even with parents’ best efforts, it is impossible to oversee children’s every online interaction. As parents, we have limited influence over how our children’s data are handled and stored, the types of targeted advertising they are exposed to, and the features intended to encourage them to stay on the internet for long periods of time.

Talking to your child about what they are seeing or experiencing online should become part of your daily conversations.

We expect that the physical spaces where our children spend time, like community parks, sports fields, and classrooms, help them grow and learn while keeping them safe. Digital spaces should be the same. Some lawmakers are working toward this.

For example, last year, California passed a bill that will require digital technology companies to protect young users’ privacy and personal data, limit dangerous content, and maintain default settings that prioritize safety. New York is considering similar legislation. While changes that would enhance safety are important, companies and policies must also consider regulations and design features that intentionally promote positive development in online spaces where youth congregate.

What do caregivers need to know about equitable access to digital technology?

Research is clear that children in families and schools with fewer resources receive less guidance tailored to learning as they begin to navigate the online world than do their peers in families and schools with more resources. Adolescents from minoritized and marginalized communities – such as youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth – are at the greatest risk for experiencing harassment and victimization online, even as they report positive experiences like finding “spaces of refuge” and community on the internet that may not be available to them in their physical environments.

Although discussion of technology tends to focus on limiting screen time, too many students are unable to access the basic benefits of technology, particularly for learning and education. Black and Hispanic students and those from families with lower incomes are more likely to have limited access to devices and the Internet than their peers.

Photo: Omar Ramadan. Pexels.

To help address these gaps, many school districts are working to provide free or reduced-cost WiFi to students. Families who need help to afford reliable Internet access and connected devices can contact their local school district or apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program.

In addition, digital technology companies and policymakers need to establish digital solutions and innovations that make the online world a place of opportunity rather than posing added risks for our most vulnerable youth.

Conclusion

Early adolescence brings new opportunities for building connections, education, and healthy learning and exploration. If we focus the conversation around “teens and tech” only on protection, we may miss opportunities to meet young people where they are and build online environments that match their needs.

Parents and caregivers have an important role in helping our children develop a healthy relationship with digital technologies. That includes talking directly with them about potential risks of online interactions and how to moderate digital technology use, providing oversight where possible to see what children are doing on the internet, and setting limits to ensure that technology does not interfere with sleep and other activities important to well-being. Most importantly, it means building strong relationships with our children so they tell us what is going on and when they are struggling.

But we cannot do this on our own. It is time for the owners, designers, and creators of the online spaces where young people spend their time to step up and build environments that support young people while also keeping them safe. We need to ask different types of questions so we learn not just how to protect but also how to support our children’s healthy development in an increasingly digital world.

The post Making the internet safer, engaging and evidence-based for tweens appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways for caregivers

• Most studies on young children’s use of screens and unfavorable developmental outcomes have subtle, nuanced findings that prevent definitive conclusions that screen time directly causes developmental delays in children.
• If parents use screen media with their young child, they should interact with their babies, view content together, and watch programs that are educational (e.g., Public Broadcasting Service shows like Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood).
• Background media, particularly programming intended for older children, teenagers, and adults, should be turned off when not in use, especially during child’s play time.
• Screen media should not be used before bedtime.
• The entire family should practice and model appropriate levels of screen use and make time for activities that promote social, motor, language, and cognitive development.

Current guidelines for screen time with young children

Current American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommend no screen time for children 18 months and younger (except caregiver-assisted video chatting), no screen use between 18 and 24 months without an adult, and no more than an hour of screen time after age two. However, nearly 70% of parents do not follow these guidelines and only 20% of parents are even aware that they exist. This is why I argued in my 2021 paper that the AAP should revise their guidelines to take into consideration the current technological landscape, updated research, and the realities of the home lives of families with children.

The most consistent benefits associated with a child’s screen time come from caregivers watching content with the child, a practice known as co-viewing.

Child screen time may not be as harmful as previously thought

Will regularly putting your young child in front of Sesame Street while you wash dishes or take a phone call be detrimental to your baby’s development? Probably not. Much of the research examining child development and screen media use has yielded mixed and nuanced findings.

It is difficult to determine cause and effect in these studies. For example, imagine a researcher finds an association between high rates of developmentally inappropriate screen time and non-optimal developmental outcomes. Is screen time directly causing developmental delays in this scenario?

Possibly, but it is more likely that several interacting factors contribute to both high rates of screen time and developmental delays (e.g., child characteristics like a “difficult” temperament or high levels of fussiness, families’ low income, parents’ education level, caregivers’ stress levels, parents’ mental health status).

Ethical and methodological limitations

Determining if screen time or other factors directly contribute to developmental outcomes is difficult given the ethical and methodological limitations of long-term studies. For example, researchers cannot ethically expose children to inappropriate amounts of screen time or unhealthy environments to measure their effects. Instead, they must measure existing risk factors in a child’s environments and examine the relations that emerge.

In addition, risk factors often occur together, making it difficult to isolate the specific effects of one particular factor, like excessive screen use. In light of research on children’s screen use and current trends in households’ technology use, many scholars who study this age period argue that the current AAP screen time guidelines for children may be too restrictive and unrealistic.

Photo: Ali Smith. Pexels.

Under certain circumstances, a child’s use of screens may be beneficial

Creators of educational programming (e.g., PBS) often consult with developmental experts when writing and producing content. As a result, certain techniques currently embedded in educational shows help young children learn. For example, pausing after asking a question, modeling simple tasks, highlighting important information to draw a child’s attention, and using familiar characters all increase a child’s ability to learn from screens.

In addition to these benefits to cognitive development, several recent studies have found that early use of touch screens may enhance a child’s physical development, particularly their fine motor skills (e.g., finger and hand coordination).

Benefits of co-viewing

The most consistent benefits associated with a child’s screen time come when caregivers watch content with their child, a practice known as co-viewing. Co-viewing creates opportunities for conversations about new situations and objects that families may not otherwise encounter.

This may have been especially useful early in the COVID-19 pandemic when caregivers were less likely to take their child out of the home setting. Co-viewing also creates more occasions to discuss emotions, sometimes even more so than traditional toys. Finally, co-viewing provides opportunities for caregivers to model and teach healthy media use habits, such as taking regular breaks from screen time to go outside, read books, or play with toys.

It is important to remember that children still need considerable amounts of face-to-face interactions to thrive.

Despite benefits, some screen time practices should be avoided

Screens cannot replace caregiver-child interactions. While screen time for children may not be as detrimental as once thought, it is important to remember that children still need considerable amounts of face-to-face interactions to thrive. Face-to-face interactions ensure that children learn social and emotional cues related to facial expressions, as well as accompanying language, skills children cannot learn from screens.

Children also need adequate opportunities to move around to support their physical development. As with older children and adults, sedentary behavior in children leads to a host of non-optimal outcomes, including a greater risk of obesity and delays in motor development. If families choose to let their child engage with screen media, they should ensure that child has adequate time to move around rather than being kept in a stationary, seated position.

Additionally, screen exposure disrupts sleep at all ages. Caregivers should be mindful to avoid screen time around sleep, particularly before and during bedtime routines.

Finally, there are no benefits associated with child viewing content intended for older children and adults. Occasionally watching adult-oriented programming (e.g., daily news programs) in the background will not have adverse outcomes for children. However, prolonged exposure to age-inappropriate programming can interrupt and distract children from beneficial learning activities, such as playing and shared reading. Long hours (2.5-3 hours/day) with age-inappropriate media and without a caregiver can result in non-optimal developmental outcomes.

Photo: Tuấn Kiệt Jr.. Pexels.

Recommendations for caregivers: Best practices for screen use with young children

Most families with children are not following current AAP guidelines for child media use. A solution to the disparity between AAP guidelines and actual child screen time habits may be to acknowledge a child’s screen media use, update and widely disseminate the AAP guidelines, and help families make decisions that take advantage of the known benefits and avoid the clear risks associated with advancing technology.

Meeting families where they are and making minor changes with regard to screen time habits is a more realistic goal given the current technological landscape than is trying to avoid screen time for children altogether.

I recommend the following best practices for screen time:

1. If digital media use is part of the family’s lifestyle, be sure to allocate adequate time for sleep and for activities that develop motor, language, and cognitive skills.
2. Engage with media content together; talk about what children are seeing, point out important features, and relate content to daily activities.
3. Limit content to educational and prosocial programming (e.g., PBS shows like Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood)
4. Turn off media when not in use, especially during a child’s play and reading time.
5. Avoid watching adult-directed programming around children.
6. Avoid using screens in the evening.
7. Limit parents’ and siblings’ screen use to model appropriate levels of screen time and create adequate opportunities for children to engage socially with the family.

Continued research on child screen use is needed

Experts acknowledge the pros and cons of children’s screen use, and debate continues regarding its risks and benefits to child development. Researchers should consider the type of content children are being exposed to, the amount of parent involvement that accompanies a child’s screen viewing, and the context in which children are using screens to better determine the risks and benefits of using screens at this age.

Additionally, research needs to keep up with technological advances. For example, some content developers are teaming up with researchers to design developmentally appropriate screen media for children. These new approaches to content will need to be thoroughly evaluated, but they offer the possibility of age-appropriate content for children in the near future.

The post Is screen time detrimental to a young child’s development? Maybe not appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways for caregivers

• Screens may be beneficial to but may also prove problematic for infants’ development.
• More than half of infants in a study on child development had been exposed to screens by six months and many had a screen in the room where they slept.
• Mothers reported using screens with infants for at least 1-3 hours a day and during daily activities, such as during meals, when going to sleep, while waiting, and to calm infants.
• Maternal stress did not predict the use of screens with infants, but moms’ educational level did.
• Research suggests that we need to learn from caregivers why they offer screens to their young children, as well as the need for increased guidance and resources for caregivers regarding exposure to and use of screen time.

Screen use can negatively affect caregiver-child attachment and children’s development

The popularity of cell phones, tablets, and other screens is undeniable and has changed our world, largely for the better. These media are instruments of daily life, helping us navigate both time and location.

Mothers’ self-reports of their perceived levels of stress did not predict whether a screen was provided. However, educational attainment did predict screen exposure.

They allow us to read on the move, serve as a form of entertainment, and connect us rapidly and easily with those around the corner and around the globe. Screen devices are everywhere, and exposure to them now extends beyond adults to include teenagers, tweens, and young children.

Yet while cell phones may help us connect, they may also serve to disconnect. The challenges of disconnection, or technoference, are revealed in adult relationships and, in similar ways, may be particularly disruptive for parents and other caregivers of young children.

Young children form an attachment to parents and caregivers, relying on them to satisfy needs for food, warmth, safety, and affection. By attending to a child’s cues, a parent is participating in the type of back-and-forth interactions that bolster development (Maccoby et al., 1983).

Research shows that the healthy development of a child depends in part on the consistency of these back-and-forth interactions, sometimes called serve and return. Considerable evidence shows that language, emotional, and cognitive development all begin in the small and unscripted interactions between caregiver and child.

But research also shows that screens may sometimes disrupt or interfere with this type of interaction between a parent and their child, and can result in changes in infants’ sleep, language, executive function, and attention.

Photo: Sunvani Hoàng. Pexels.

A study of mothers’ screen use with their infants

Given the importance of the back-and-forth relationship between caregivers and young children, we conducted a study to understand why some mothers give their infants screens and others do not. While mothers offer screens for many reasons, we studied whether mothers’ descriptions of their own stress levels and their educational attainment played a part.

Our study used data from an ongoing study seeking to understand how early experiences influence child development outcomes. Eighty-two mothers were invited to share their prenatal experiences with our team of researchers, completing surveys that asked, among other questions, about their levels of stress and their educational attainment. Our sample of mothers was diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and educational attainment.

After giving birth, the mothers were contacted periodically until their child turned three years old. When the infant was six months old, mothers were invited to return with their child to the research lab. At this visit, mothers were asked if their child had been exposed to screens. If they answered yes, the moms were given a survey that asked about the ways the child had been exposed to screens, including questions about what they watched, with whom, and for how long.

Caregivers may not be fully aware that screens can disrupt parent-child interactions and children’s development.

Many infants are exposed to screens through daily activities

Forty-three of the six-month-olds had been exposed to screens, with 28 (70%) having a screen in the room where they slept. About a third of the infants were given a screen at mealtime, while going to sleep, and while waiting at the doctor’s office. About half of mothers reported offering a screen to calm their infant. More than half of moms reported providing a screen between 1-3 hours per day, and about a third reported providing a screen more than 3 hours per day.

Mothers’ self-reports of their perceived levels of stress did not predict whether they gave their infants a screen. However, moms’ educational attainment did predict screen exposure: Less maternal education was associated with mothers more often offering screens to their infants.

This information is important to consider when thinking about infants’ screen use but should be taken at face value. Our study was a small sample of mothers and infants. We did not talk with mothers about why they provided screens to their infants so we can only attempt to interpret their survey responses without knowing the full picture of these early experiences for children.

One possibility is that stress is felt universally by parents of infants and as such, was not a strong predictor of who might provide a screen. However, educational attainment is not equal or equitable among people in the United States, and it may serve as a marker of knowledge about screens or other characteristics that predict screen use.

Photo: pxfuel.

Educating parents about screen exposure and use is essential

Researchers need to understand more about why mothers offer screens to their infants. Caregivers may not be fully aware that screens can disrupt parent-child interactions and children’s development. They may be less prepared by people they encounter in health care or social service settings to consider screen exposure and use with their infants in the same way they consider, for example, feeding or providing safe sleeping conditions.

Given the findings from our study that screen use and daily care activities may be intertwined for some caregivers, personnel in health care and social services should facilitate these conversations with new parents.

We hope to continue research on this topic so we can better understand how parents’ educational level is related to social supports or services for mothers. We would also like to understand more fully how these supports for parents of infants might reduce the need to provide screens at certain times during the day (e.g., during meals, at bedtime, while waiting) and for extended periods of time.

If you are a caregiver with questions about screen exposure and use with your infant, visit the AAP website, where there are resources for caregivers, including guidelines on screen use for young children and their development. In addition, ask your pediatrician or other health care provider questions about age-appropriate screen use so you can learn how to navigate potentially stressful times when the distraction of a screen may seem helpful.

The post How and why do six-month-old infants interact with screens? appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways for caregivers

• Self-regulation – the ability to monitor and manage behaviors and emotions – is a critical aspect of early childhood development.
• Television viewing is associated with lower levels of self-regulation, or greater levels of dysregulation, in young children, especially difficulties in attention and self-soothing.
• The specific impact of TV exposure on dysregulation may differ across cultures, perhaps stemming from different cultural or family practices around TV viewing experiences.
• Parents and caregivers should limit TV viewing for young children, but can also consider how to help their child understand and engage with high-quality programming.

What should parents know about the risks of television viewing for young children?

Exposure to television and other digital media is frequently discussed and often discouraged, but many parents and caregivers might wonder, “What is the harm?” and “Is all television bad?” The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that digital media be avoided for children under 18 months, with the exception of video chatting. For parents who wish to introduce digital media between 18 and 24 months, the AAP advises choosing “high-quality programming” (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016).

However, as we progress further in the digital age, children are being introduced to many forms of media at younger ages. Television and other electronic devices may serve as “electronic babysitters,” especially for infants and young children whose temperaments are considered “difficult.”

Additionally, much more media is being targeted to the youngest age groups. Another facet to consider is the nuances of digital media, such as different types of programming and devices (e.g., TV, tablet, cell phone). What, specifically, should parents and caregivers be concerned about? 

Photo: Lars Plougmann. Creative Commons.

Television viewing and the development of self-regulation in young children

When it comes to the impact of early television exposure, concerns regarding reactivity and self-regulation are notable. Reactivity describes the intensity of our response to our world, such as how strongly we feel excitement or fear, or how strongly we react to sensory information (e.g., sights and sounds). Regulation is the processes of monitoring and managing reactivity to the world around us and our internal experiences. This includes how we express emotion, where we put our attention, and how we think about and change our thinking (see Rothbart et al., 2000, for a review).

In early infancy, we rely on others to help us regulate, such as by soothing us. However, as we mature, we gain more independence and the capacity to regulate ourselves. Self-regulation helps children learn, engage with others, and gain independence. When reactivity (e.g., anger/frustration or fearfulness) is elevated and regulation abilities are low, dysregulation can occur. 

Studying the links between children’s TV exposure and dysregulation across cultures

We conducted a study to determine whether exposure to television contributes to deficits in regulation in young children. Early childhood is a foundational period for the development of self-regulation, and television exposure is thought to disrupt related processes. In some studies, frequent TV exposure during and before toddlerhood has been associated with an increased risk of language delays, attention difficulties, and disruptions in the development of executive functioning (e.g., working memory, inhibition, problem-solving skills).

We also examined whether links between early childhood television exposure and regulation development differ across cultures. While children around the world are exposed to TV in early childhood, associated risks may not be universal. Different socialization and cultural aspects of the environment can lead to differences in the development of reactivity and regulation.

Our research suggests that higher levels of dysregulation are associated with more television viewing in young children, with soothability and attention problems being the most commonly affected.

For example, several cross-cultural studies have found differences in children’s inhibitory control (controlling urges), soothability (ability to calm down or recover from stress), cuddliness (willingness to be cuddled), attention (ability to focus and redirect), low intensity pleasure (ability to enjoy quiet and calm activities), surgency (positive affect), and negative emotionality (tendency to show negative emotions).

Given these cross-cultural differences in regulation, it is critical to understand how variability in TV exposure across cultures contributes to subsequent behavioral and emotional difficulties. We conducted an international investigation of television exposure in toddlers (approximately 15 months to 41 months old) in 14 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Finland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Turkey, South Korea, Spain, and the United States.

Using a variety of measures, we asked parents to answer questions about their child’s daily activities, including how much time their child spends watching television each day. We also asked parents to answer questions about their child’s temperament, including reactivity and regulation. 

Photo: William Fortunato. Pexels.

Cross-cultural links among television exposure, attention problems, and soothability

Overall, we found that increased time spent watching television was associated with more dysregulation. That is, the more time toddlers spent watching television, the lower ratings parents provided on measures of regulation.

However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems (difficulty shifting or maintaining attention) and soothability (the ease with which the child could self-soothe or be soothed by others) varied significantly between cultures. For example, compared to children from other cultures, for Spanish toddlers, time spent watching TV was less strongly associated with dysregulation, whereas for Dutch children, time spent watching TV was more strongly associated with problems with soothability and attention problems.

While our study did not investigate the causes of these differences, some cultures may offer protective mechanisms that buffer against adverse effects of TV exposure. For example, many Spanish families watch television together, with TV-related activities constituting one element of family time, rather than relying on TV as an electronic babysitter.

This practice could stem from the central theme of familismo that is traditionally valued by individuals from Hispanic cultures, and includes strong attachment, loyalty, reciprocity, and solidarity among families (Diaz-Loving & Draguns, 1999). Researchers should examine more closely this concept as well as other possible protective effects.

How to reduce the negative impacts of television viewing for young children

Our research suggests that higher levels of dysregulation are associated with more television viewing in young children, with soothability and attention problems being the most commonly affected. These findings add to previous studies that have shown that even background television can have negative impacts on children’s play and parent-child interactions by decreasing attention and active engagement in both children and parents.

Thus, any potential benefits of television stimulation as a new source of entertainment and distraction for young children appear short lived, with likely adverse effects in the long term. Some benefits of educational programming have been reported across cultures; however, these generally show up later in childhood, after children have developed foundational self-regulation skills.

Television viewing might affect children differently depending on a variety of environmental factors, including cultural and familial customs.

Together, the research shows that limiting television exposure could help limit certain aspects of dysregulation. Yet television viewing might affect children differently depending on a variety of environmental factors, including cultural and familial customs. When families or younger children watch TV, some protective factors may emerge through cultural differences, such as the possibility that some cultures incorporate family engagement into television use.

In summary, it is important to consider not only the age when children engage with media content but also how they contextualize it and how it fits into their world. Television programming could be developed to provide more developmentally appropriate stimulation to young children, especially when paired with parental engagement and application to real-world experiences.

Thus, it is important to monitor the amount and type of programming children are watching and how they are engaging with television. It is also important for parents and caregivers to talk about and teach children how TV programming can be meaningful in their daily lives.

The post Considering the impacts of television exposure on toddlers’ dysregulation: Does culture matter? appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways for caregivers

• Playing with toys is an important activity for caregivers and infants to do together to support healthy development.
• When caregivers read manufacturers’ descriptions of toys, they were more likely to choose technological toys, but research suggests that these toys may have significant drawbacks, such as decreased engagement between caregivers and infants and less language use while playing.
• Reading toy descriptions with a critical eye is a good way to purchase high-quality toys for infants.

Choosing certain toys can positively affect child development

Many parents, caregivers, and family members face the challenge of selecting a toy as a gift for a child. What will they like? What do they already own? What toy will be best for them? And most confusing, how do I select which toy out of what seems like hundreds and hundreds of options? No wonder the choice feels so overwhelming: Toys are big business – a $40 billion dollar industry in the United States in 2022.

Beyond their role in the marketplace, though, toys are important for infants’ development because they play a critical role in supporting and encouraging play. Toys can encourage physical activity, such as tossing and catching a ball or pushing a toy train around a room. They can also provide a jumping off point for fostering social interactions between individuals, for example, when two children share and play with a toy together.

Toys can also expand children’s thinking as they use them to represent other objects, such as a toy phone in place of a smartphone. And they can also support the expression of creativity, as occurs when children use blocks to build a structure.

Playing with toys is not only about the toy itself, but also about how individuals interact with each other while they are playing.

The importance of playing with toys for infants’ development is well-established. But another important factor is critical to consider – the idea that interactions between caregivers and infants during play (with and without toys) help support babies’ cognitive and social development.

For instance, when caregivers and infants engage in back-and-forth interactions focused on the same topic or object of interest, infants can learn new words and develop an understanding of how to take turns in a conversation. In other words, playing with toys is not only about the toy itself, but also about how individuals interact with each other while they are playing.

Choosing technological toys may negatively affect children’s development

Toys are powerful tools for development and they can support important caregiver-child interactions. But are all toys created equal in terms of their potential to foster high-quality interactions?

In short, probably not. In particular, research suggests that technological or electronic toys – those that need batteries to operate – might have negative effects on how caregivers and infants play together and talk during their playful interactions. For example, when using electronic toys, caregivers might talk more about how to make the toy work (e.g., using more commands like, “Push the button”) instead of letting infants direct the interaction or asking open-ended questions.

How do caregivers approach decisions about buying toys?

Since toys are important tools for supporting cognitive and social development, and the types of toys caregivers and children play with may differentially affect important interactions, we need to better understand how caregivers approach purchasing toys for their infants.

To examine this matter, we conducted a study with caregivers. We asked how they approached purchasing toys for their infants. We also investigated whether and how manufacturers’ claims about the specific developmental benefits of toys affected caregivers’ purchasing decisions. In our study, we examined three questions:

• What types of toys do infants and caregivers play with?
• What are caregivers’ preferences for electronic versus traditional toys?
• How do advertisements of the developmental features of toys affect caregivers’ toy selections?

Photo: Polesie Toys. Pexels.

Examining how and what caregivers think about toys

Sixty-three primary caregivers of infants (0-24 months) across the United States took part in the study. Most caregivers were White (78%), 3% were Black, 5% were Asian, 13% were Latinx, and 1% were of another ethnicity. Caregivers’ highest level of educational attainment ranged from a high school diploma (3%) to a graduate degree (79%).

In our survey, caregivers were asked to report how often their infant engaged in playing with blocks, dolls or stuffed animals, electronic toys (i.e., toys with batteries), electronic and non-electronic books, electronic and non-electronic puzzles, and other toys.

Next, caregivers viewed eight images of infant toys without descriptions. Four of the eight toys were electronic, with features including lights and sounds, and required batteries. The other four toys were traditional or otherwise identified as non-electronic toys (e.g., shape sorters, stacking blocks, puzzles). Caregivers were asked to identify four toys they would be interested in buying.

Next, caregivers answered questions about their toy purchasing behaviors and opinions about toy marketing. Then the same eight toys were shown again (in a different order), this time with manufacturers’ descriptions. The descriptions included the toys’ developmental benefits (e.g., fostering fine motor skills, an understanding of cause and effect, or counting skills), and disclosed whether or not the toys were electronic. Finally, caregivers were again asked to select four toys they would be interested in buying and answered the same set of questions about toy buying.

Caregivers should ask themselves whether manufacturers’ claims about toys are supported by research or if they just feature buzzwords to sell the product.

What types of toys do caregivers and infants play with?

The youngest infants (0-6 months) used electronic toys most frequently (88% used them at least once per day), while fewer than 70% of the infants used traditional toys at least once per day. This indicates that technological toys are already part of infants’ daily routines, even at very young ages. Depending on age, between 33% and 46% of older infants (7-24 months) also used electronic toys at least once per day.

What are caregivers’ preferences for choosing between electronic and traditional toys? 

Before being exposed to the toy descriptions, caregivers were significantly more likely to select traditional than non-traditional toys for their infants. But after reading the descriptions, there was no difference between their selections of traditional and technological toys. That is, they were equally likely to choose either type of toy when descriptions were provided.

This indicates that caregivers were likely influenced by the presence of descriptions when making their selections and that reading these descriptions tended to bias them toward selecting more electronic toys, relative to when they were not given descriptions to read.

How do advertisements of the developmental features of toys affect caregivers’ toy selections?

Caregivers more often agreed with the following statements after reading the toy descriptions than before they read them: “Toy descriptions are accurate representations of toys,” “My toy purchasing decisions are impacted by the developmental benefits of toys,” and “Toys positively impact the cognitive development of infants.” This suggests that the descriptions influenced how caregivers perceived the toys’ ability to affect infant development.

Photo: PNW Production. Pexels.

Recommendations for caregivers when buying toys

The findings from our study suggest that being critical consumers of manufacturers’ toy descriptions can be beneficial for caregivers. Additional research is needed to determine how these findings generalize to other contexts, such as different types of toys, toys for different age groups and for other demographic groups, and actual toy-buying decisions. Understanding the power of toy descriptions for technological toys, in particular, is important because the market for these types of toys is expanding rapidly globally and is expected to grow another 16% between 2019 and 2025.

Caregivers should ask themselves whether manufacturers’ claims about toys are supported by research or if they just feature buzzwords to sell the product. It can be hard to know if claims are trustworthy, so caregivers can consider whether the toy helps support back-and-forth interactions and conversations between caregiver and child or between children.

Toys can be especially beneficial if they have the potential to spark social interactions, imagination, and creativity, or if they foster learning about concepts like math, spatial skills, or new vocabulary words. Caregivers may also want to consider if any additional features of a toy support these high-quality interactions rather than just being superficially distracting.

Finally, it is important to remember that supporting children’s healthy development does not require purchasing toys at all! Caregivers can engage in the kinds of back-and-forth interactions that support learning and social interaction through other types of play, such as playing with everyday objects like pans or boxes, as well as everyday conversations.

The post How do caregivers decide what toys to buy for infants? appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways on Children’s Screen Time for caregivers

• Research shows that most toddlers spend a significant amount of time watching screens – an average of about 4 hours a day.
• Toddlers who spend more time watching screens, such as television, videos, and digital games, may have fewer expressive language skills, or the ability to express themselves 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., while on transportation, at meals).

Why screen time might affect a child’s language development

Young children rapidly learn words by interacting with their environment, such as through conversations with their caregivers. However, how much language children are exposed to in the home environment varies widely across families, contributing to school readiness gaps between children from low- and middle-income backgrounds. Children’s screen time, including watching television and videos, and playing digital games, is one early experience that may be related to their language development.

There is research to suggest that brain development through screens may be slower when compared to interaction with caregivers. Photo: Thom Cochrane. Creative Commons.

High levels of screen time may replace interaction with caregivers

Many researchers have theorized about the impact of screen time on young children’s language development. First, high levels of screen time may replace interaction with a caregiver who can respond to and elicit responses from children. This tailored back-and-forth interaction, or contingent responding, influences learning and allows children to practice their language skills.

Young children have trouble learning from media

Second, although some media products for toddlers are marketed as educational, evidence suggests that children this age have trouble learning from media, perhaps because videos are often simpler than real-life experiences and replace rich real-world stimuli. This may be especially important for toddlers from homes with low incomes, who are likely to experience high levels of media exposure and are most at risk for delays in language development.

More screen time was associated with lower levels of language skills for toddlers.

Studying screen time and language in children

To examine the relationship between screen time and a child’s language development, we conducted a study that asked two questions:

1. How much screen time do toddlers from homes with low incomes experience?
2. Is the amount of screen time related to toddlers’ language development?

Our study used data from the Kids in Columbus Study, a longitudinal study on midwestern U.S. two- and three-year-olds living in poverty (i.e., 185% of U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines). We collected data on 157 toddlers; 54% were Black, 47% were White, and 8% were Latino (respondents could select all races and ethnicities that applied).

Caregivers completed surveys on toddlers’ screen time during an average weekday (e.g., in front of a television watching programs, videos, and DVDs; playing video games; using computers, cell phones, handheld video games, tablets, smartphones, and other electronic devices). About six months later, we observed toddlers’ language abilities by taking a standardized measurement of what words toddlers understood and what words they could speak. 

Screen time can influence a child’s language development. Photo: Karolina Grabowska. Pexels.

How much screen time do children from homes with low incomes experience?

The toddlers’ amount of screen time varied. While some families reported little to no screen time, a substantial portion reported more than 8 hours per day. The average amount of daily screen time was nearly 4 hours. This finding is similar to nationally representative data showing that daily screen time for children under eight years old living in homes with low incomes was 3.5 hours.

More screen time was related to lower levels of expressive language

Next, we sought to determine whether the amount of toddlers’ screen time 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 language skills for toddlers.

It is challenging, and probably not necessary or advisable, to avoid all screen time.

Interestingly, screen time was related only to toddlers’ expressive language (i.e., their ability to express themselves verbally) and not to their receptive language (i.e., how well they understand when others speak to them) or vocabulary (i.e., the words they understand). Screen time could influence children’s ability to use language themselves because it may replace opportunities to practice talking, such as conversations with a caregiver or other adults.

How can caregivers support children’s early language development during screen time?

Today, it is challenging, and probably not necessary or advisable, to avoid all screen time. Yet caregivers can take several steps to support children’s language development in the context of our digital world.

First, caregivers can co-participate in the screen time with the child. They can talk with their child about what they are watching or doing on screens. Second, they can engage in high-quality language interactions without screens at other times of the day (e.g., while on transportation, at meals). And third, because not all screen content is created equal, caregivers can monitor what children are using and help them seek out high-quality programming, including educational shows and applications. Caregivers can look to sources informed by research, such as Common Sense Media, to find age-based recommendations.

Co-participating in screen time could enhance a child’s development. Photo: Wayan Vota. Creative Commons.

Our finding that more screen time was related to lower levels of expressive language skills is especially important because children from homes with low incomes are already at risk for language delay and lower levels of school readiness than their peers from middle- and upper-income homes. More screen time could further widen this gap. Researchers may benefit from comparing relations between screen use and language development in children from other income levels (e.g., middle and high income).

In addition, researchers need to examine whether using educational media or using media with an adult is less likely to be related to lower levels of language skills than is using screen time for entertainment or alone. Studies could also explore potential interventions to support caregivers in providing stimulating language environments for children and keeping screens as a fun, but not predominant, part of their lives.

The post Toddlers’ screen time: Links between screen time and child development appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways for caregivers

• Many parents look for clear guidance on how to navigate their children’s use of digital media, asking “Is too much screen time bad for my child?” or “How much tablet time should my child get?” But the answer is not a simple “yes” or “less,” especially for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
• Instead of hard rules about how much digital media children should use or when, it can be more fruitful to consider how they are using technology, what they are doing with it, and who is engaging with them as they use this media. This is particularly important when looking at impacts on young children’s vocabulary development.
• The world in which young children are growing up is digital. Instead of banning technology, parents should consider how it can supplement their children’s learning instead of distracting from it.

Children’s use of technology and digital media are inevitable: Focus on how and what they are doing with it

Imagine your own childhood and where you learned about new animals – a dog, fish, or even a giraffe or elephant. Chances are, it was by seeing the dog in the neighbor’s yard or watching an elephant at the zoo, perhaps supplemented with stuffed animals or pictures in a storybook.

How children experience the world vs adults

Now consider where your child has encountered the concept of “dog” or “elephant.” In addition to the petting zoo, you might have added “in Paw Patrol” or “while playing ABCMouse” or even (for older children) “in Minecraft.” How children experience the world today is different from how their parents might have, or even from how an older sibling might have learned before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Technology and digital media are rapidly increasing and present in daily life for most Western families. They are impossible to avoid for adults and young children alike. Most parents have wondered if too much screen time will cause their child to be delayed or if particular applications can “fry children’s brains.” They wonder if it is okay to let their child use a tablet every so often, or which applications are educational. The truth is that there is not an easy response to these questions because the answer varies depending on the family, child, and type of media being consumed.

Photo: Toca Boca. Creative Commons.

Advice on how to navigate this space as a parent or caregiver is also changing rapidly, in part because research is still yielding results. Each day, researchers add a bit more to our knowledge of how children use technology, what it means for their learning, and what later impacts it might have. As we continue to learn more about the role of technology and digital media in young children’s lives, updating how we think about technology and looking to the future can be instructive.

In a recent paper, I examined the role of digital media by considering whether questions about what and how much children are using are not the right questions to ask in the first place. Instead, what if we asked: How are children using technology? What is their experience with digital media like? Who is helping or interacting with young children as they engage in screen time at home?

Questions might also consider how digital context differs from real-world experiences, how the content of digital applications varies from the content in books or toys, and how each child and household may be unique in their uses of and needs for technology.

Learning in a digital context differs from learning with real items

Digital applications are often less social than real-world interactions, with fewer interactive elements. Even when an application or program includes a relatable human character, it often does not factor in the child’s responses or behavior or has low quality of an interaction (e.g., it asks hypothetical questions, but does not allow time for the child to respond).

Most parents have wondered if too much screen time will cause their child to be delayed, or if particular applications can “fry children’s brains.”

We know that having dyadic – real-time, back-and-forth – conversations is critical for children’s language development. The more digital videos replace everyday conversations like grocery store banter or before-bedtime rituals, the fewer words and language skills children learn. Nonetheless, when technology is used in ways that make the context social – such as connecting with Grandma on video chat or playing a joint game in an application – children’s learning and social connectedness improve.

Digital learning allows less exploration

In addition to digital contexts being less social than actual conversations, they are also less rich and allow less exploration. Cartoons and 2D drawings are frequent in digital media and many features of the real world simply cannot be replicated even in virtual reality (e.g., the technology for virtual smells and tastes is still in development and uncommon outside of high-tech centers). This means that digital context at home is simpler and of lower quality than what real life might provide a child.

But that does not mean children cannot learn from digital media. Rather, it means that they are more likely to do when experiences that cannot be replicated online (e.g., smells, tastes, 3D forms) are supplemented off screen. For instance, if a child is learning the word “milk” on an application, she can see the shape of the milk carton, notice its white color, and discover that it is a drink.

Yet if the concept of milk is only presented in simple images on a screen, richer details about actual milk cannot be captured (e.g., texture, material). For example, on a screen, spilled milk might look the same as spilled glue. Only as children explore in real-world settings, such as at mealtimes, can they gain critical knowledge through touch, such as realizing the watery texture of milk and preventing a glue-eating mishap.

Photo: Alex Green. Pexels.

Digital content differs from real-world experiences

The recorded dialogue that makes up most digital media is often slower and more formal than what children hear at home. Similarly, objects in a picture are seen from only one angle without the opportunity to rotate, touch, or attempt to eat the item. These limited views are harder to learn from in the moment. They also make it harder for children to transfer learning from the tablet to the real world; in a phenomenon called the transfer deficit, children may learn the name of a new toy in a video but not be able to recognize the same toy in real life.

However, if children get a real-world foundation first, it can be easier for them to recognize and learn more about those items when they appear in a digital form. Moreover, digital worlds make it possible for children to get a wider variety of experiences – seeing fairy tales in action, or new examples of exotic animals that go beyond the static storybook. This sort of variety is beneficial, especially when learning new words. So digital content is not inherently bad, but supplementing it with real world experiences is key.

Digital media learning needs to be adapted to each individual child

How children interact with digital media varies based on their age, which can change what children do with it, which in turn influences how technology may affect their learning. For instance, by age three, most children know the names of more than 300 different real-life objects and are starting to extend these labels to new items, including those in digital form. But they may have trouble transferring learning the reverse way – from a tablet to the world. Similarly, by the time most children are four, their cognitive maturity is advanced and the transfer deficit presents less of a barrier to learning.

In essence, as children get older and engage in more rich, social experiences, they learn how to learn. Once they know how to learn, they can extend that new ability to new places, including technology.

When technology is used in ways that make the context social – such as connecting with Grandma on video chat or playing a joint game in an application – children’s learning and social connectedness improve.

At the same time, every child is different, with unique strengths and backgrounds. Some children with vision or hearing deficits may need a tablet for adaptive purposes. Other children may be extremely shy but can slowly gain confidence in communicating by using FaceTime.

There are also vast differences in how different cultures and families of different socioeconomic statuses use technology, with children’s prior experience with technology varying as widely as the ways in which it is used. For these reasons, it is difficult if not impossible to give blanket advice on whether children should or should not use technology, or how much screen time they should have.

Focus on how and what children are learning in both digital and real-world experiences

Children’s future includes technology. And that technology looks different from what parents and caregivers have experienced, and will differ even more a few years from now. As the digital landscape shifts, parents should look for digital experiences that are interactive, driven by children’s curiosity, and variable, and that can be supplemented with real-life experiences and social interactions.

But parents and caregivers also should not be too concerned. If children are getting rich real-world interactions and their exposure to technology is supplemented with a variety of other experiences, they will have opportunities for deep learning. Instead of wondering if there should be more or less screen time, parents should think about how and what their children are learning and lean into the children’s world to engage with them.

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