Research-Backed Advice on Screen Policies for Young Kids

Jacqueline Nesi and Cara Goodwin interpret a recent meta-analysis.

Intro from Zach Rausch and Jon Haidt: 

Over the last few decades, parenting has become a constant battle around screens. Since publishing The Anxious Generation, we’ve focused on a key policy: delay. Delay smartphones until age 14, and social media until 16. Put off, for as long as you can, the beginning of that constant battle.

But then what? And what about all the other tech kids are using at home? These are the questions that we plan to address in a series of upcoming posts. We’ve been searching for the most reliable research to guide families, particularly those with children who already have access to personal devices.

Today, we’re pleased to share an insightful essay by Dr. Jacqueline Nesi and Dr. Cara Goodwin, highlighting a recent meta-analysis on the effects of screens on young children (0-6). Dr. Nesi, a clinical psychologist and professor at Brown University, authors the popular Substack Techno Sapiens, where she regularly breaks down cutting-edge research with practical advice for parents (Check out her recent post on the evidence behind phone-free schools, which we republished on After Babel). Dr. Goodwin, a child psychologist and founder of Parenting Translator, offers clear, research-backed parenting strategies through her widely-read newsletter. (Dr. Goodwin took Jon’s psych 101 class when they were both at UVA.)

— Zach and Jon

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It’s the end of a long summer day. Bath time is done, pajamas are on, and you’re settling onto the couch with your child. They snuggle up under your arm, and the faint smell of their shampoo reaches your nose. You grab the remote to turn on the TV, and hug them in a little tighter. Everything is perfect. The TV begins playing their favorite show, and as you settle in for a little screen time, you realize there’s just one thing that could make this moment even more perfect: 

A systematic review and meta-analysis of every study that’s ever been done on kids’ screen time.

Well, good news!

A new study in JAMA Pediatrics offers an incredibly comprehensive overview of the research on screens for young kids. Even better news: the study offers nice, concrete takeaways for families on how best to use (and not use) screens. 

Let’s get to it!

What did the researchers do?

So many parents worry about their children getting “too much” screen time, but research increasingly shows that the type of screen time often matters more than the amount. So, what actually makes a difference when it comes to screens and children’s development? For this new study, a (large) team of Australian researchers¹ decided to find out. 

Here’s how they did it:

• They identified all studies on the topic of screen use and emotional or cognitive development in kids (ages 0 to 6)

• They reviewed 12,000+ studies, ultimately narrowing down to 100 studies that fit their criteria

• They combined the results of these 100 studies into a systematic review (translation: a study that reviews all previous relevant studies on a topic by using a comprehensive methods to find all relevant research) and meta-analysis (translation: a study that statistically combines all previous data so you can see trends across studies)

• These studies included 176,742 children (ages 0 to 6) from 30 different countries

They used the following definitions:

• Screen use included any use of electronic devices, such as TV, tablets, computers, and smartphones for video or streaming content, apps, electronic/console gaming, social media, or any use of the internet. 

• Cognitive development included the development of language, executive functioning, and academic skills

• Psychosocial development included the development of social-emotional skills, psychological/mental health concerns, and behavioral problems

The researchers looked closely at each study to separate out types of screen use (rather than overall amount). This included:

• Age-appropriate versus adult content

• TV program viewing versus gaming or app use

• Co-use with an adult/sibling versus solo use

• Background TV exposure

• Caregiver screen use

• Use of screens as a calming tool

And the survey—er, meta-analysis—says…

So, what did the researchers find? Here are the key takeaways for parents:

1. Avoid using screens while interacting with our kids, including during meals and playtime

It’s unrealistic to think that we’ll never look at our phones when around our kids, but it makes sense to minimize this whenever possible. Across studies, when parents’ tech use frequently interrupted interactions with their children (i.e., “technoference”), children showed worse psychosocial outcomes. In particular, when parents are distracted by their screens, children may show more behavioral problems to get their attention, or they may miss out on opportunities to learn social-emotional skills from parents.

2. Choose age-appropriate, high-quality content for our kids

Studies found that when kids watched more age-inappropriate content (e.g., violence, mature content), it was associated with worse psychosocial outcomes. Alternatively, watching shows that are educational or focused on social-emotional skills (like sharing and being kind) can enhance literacy and emotional development. Studies also show potential benefits of interactive media use, like apps, versus passive viewing. Unsure whether something is age-appropriate? Check out Common Sense Media’s movie, game, app, and TV show reviews.

3. Use screens together with our kids when possible

Using screens together (“co-use” or “co-viewing”) is linked to better cognitive outcomes in kids, like language development and executive functioning. Yes, sometimes the whole point of using screens is to give ourselves a break (or a chance to cook dinner, or send an email), but when we can, it’s good to join our kids in their screen time, and turn it into a conversation whenever possible.

Try asking your child questions about what they’re seeing (How do you think Daniel Tiger is feeling about going in the pool?), explaining anything they might not understand (It looks like Daniel has to get out of the pool because there’s a storm coming), and making connections with their real world experience (Remember how you felt a little nervous before your swim lesson, too?).²

4. Avoid having TV on in the background

When TV is on in the background, kids have more difficulty focusing attention on whatever else they are doing, whether that’s talking to parents, playing with toys, or generally learning from their environments. This may be why studies have found that frequent background TV is associated with worse cognitive and psychosocial outcomes.

5. Don’t worry too much about “fast-paced” content

The research on pacing of shows, videos, or games is very mixed— some studies find a negative impact of faster-paced shows, some find a positive impact, and most find no impact at all. So, if a show is age-appropriate and high-quality, and your child seems to do well with it, there’s no need to pay much attention to “pacing.”

6. Be careful about using screens to calm kids down

It makes sense to try teaching our kids other strategies for managing strong feelings (e.g., deep breaths, talking about their feelings, taking some space), rather than handing them a device when they’re upset. The researchers only found a few studies on this issue, though, so we need more research going forward. 

Where do we go from here?

When it comes to research on little kids and screens, this study is the best we’ve got right now. It summarizes all prior studies on this topic, and gives us some direction on what to focus on as parents. But one side effect of analyzing everything we know on a topic is that it also makes very obvious everything we don’t know.

It reveals that many studies on this topic cannot tell us whether screens are causing these outcomes, only that they are associated.³ It shows that our measures of screen use are imperfect, often lumping together behaviors (e.g., “TV program viewing”) without considering what’s happening in those programs.

And, as always, it reminds us that the research can only get us so far. 

We can take away these useful general principles (watch screens with our kids when possible, avoid background TV, etc.), but what does this actually mean day-to-day? How much, and what type of background TV is actually problematic? How often should we be trying to watch screens together with our kids? Every time? Half the time? Once in a while? If we have a 3-year-old and an 11-month-old, and we want to watch Daniel Tiger together with the 3-year-old, what on earth are we supposed to do with the 11-month-old besides let him watch, too?⁴

That said, if there’s one key takeaway from this study, it is this: all screen time is not created equal. Context matters. When it comes to screens, we may be better off focusing less on how much our families are using them, and more on how.

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For more suggestions and advice for parents, see our After Babel series “What Parents Can Do Now.”

1. And by a “large” team of researchers, I mean 17 authors on this paper. 17!!! I guess that’s what happens when you need to review 12,000 studies.

2. Can you tell that swim lessons have been a major topic of conversation in our house this summer? At some point, I may dedicate a full post to my thoughts on swim lessons, but in the meantime, the experience can be summarized by: lots of money (me), lots of crying (my son), and lots of angst (both of us). One upside: discovering these non-hair-pulling (and very adorable) swim goggles that look like sunglasses.

3. One important note: for the meta-analysis portion of this review (i.e., the part where they combined the statistics from all the different studies), the researchers were only able to include “observational” studies, which cannot tell us much about causality. Experimental studies and randomized controlled trials can give us more information on whether screen time is causing various outcomes. For these types of studies, the authors “narratively” summarized results (i.e., described them in the text), but did not include them in the meta-analysis. Most of the takeaways described above had at least some experimental evidence to back them, so we can feel more confident that they’re pointing us in the right direction.

4. The question about what to do with your 11-month-old while your 3-year-old watches Daniel Tiger is, of course, hypothetical.