Time spent in front of a screen associated with behavioral problems in preschool children

A new Canadian study of more than 2,400 families suggests that preschoolers spend two or more hours per day being screened for clinically significant behavioral problems.

Compared with children who had less than 30 minutes per day of projection, children exposed to more than two hours of screening per day were five times more likely to experience clinically significant "outsourcing" behavioral problems such as inattention; and more than seven times more likely to meet the criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The study, which was published today in the journal, was led by Piush Mandhane, associate professor of pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Alberta. . PLOS ONE.

"We found that the time spent in front of a screen had a significant impact at the age of five," said Mandhane. "The current Canadian guidelines do not provide for more than two hours of listening a day at this age, but our research suggests that it is even better to spend less time on the screen."

The research used data from the CHILD Cohort Study, a national birth cohort study that collects a wide range of information on the health, lifestyle, genetics and environment of nearly 3,500 children and their families from pregnancy to adolescence. Mandhane runs the Edmonton site of the CHILD Cohort Study.

Parents reported the total screen time of their child a day, including watching television and DVDs, and using computers, video consoles, smartphones, and tablets. On average, three-year-olds spent an hour and a half on the screen a day; for 42% of three-year-olds, the viewing time was longer than Canada's recommended Canadian recommendation of less than one hour per day. At age five, children spent an average of 1.4 hours per day on screen; for 13% of five-year-olds, their listening time exceeded the Canadian recommendation of less than two hours per day.

The study also assessed children's behavior and attention at age five by asking parents to complete the Children's Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a screening measure for a variety of issues such as anxiety and depression, emotional reactivity, inattention, aggression and sleep disorders.

"Before that, there was not a lot of data out there that asked the following questions:" How much does it cost too much? Are the guidelines appropriate? In the end, will the limitation of time spent in front of a screen during the preschool years have any advantages for the development of the child? "This study provides parents with some of these answers," added Sukhpreet Tamana, first author of the study, AllerGen's highly qualified staff member and postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Pediatrics at the University. from Alberta.

"The two major findings of this study are that children exposed to more time on screen at the age of three or five had significantly more behavioral and attention problems. at the age of five and that this association was greater than any other risk factor we assessed, including sleep, parental stress, and socio-economic factors, "added Tamana.

Researchers have also identified factors that provide protection from the negative effects of time spent in front of a screen. Good quality sleep had a limited impact, while participation in organized sports had a very significant protective effect.

"Interestingly, it was not a physical activity in itself that was protective, the activity had to be structured," Mandhane said. "And the more children spent time in organized sports, the less likely they were to have behavioral problems."

"Very early on, organized activities are very important for young children," said Tamana. "This paves the way for children's development, and I think instead of spending time in front of the screen, it would be beneficial for parents to increase opportunities for structured activities."

The study was unable to determine whether media content (education, video games, social media) or screen type (television, computer, tablet) were important predictors of behavioral problems, although team plans to examine these issues in more detail in future research.

Although researchers suggest that "less, it's more" when it is time to spend time in front of the preschool children, they do not advocate to eliminate it completely.

"Our data suggests that between zero and 30 minutes a day is the optimal amount of screen time," said Mandhane. "The preschool period is a great time for education about healthy relationships with screens, and we believe our data shows that it's impossible to start too early."