Many kids in the U.S. are already using screens by the time they are 3 years old. While both parents and their children might enjoy it, screen time comes with risks, and a study published this week adds to concerns about screen time.
This study, published Monday in the eBioMedicine journal from Lancet, found that screen time actually accelerated maturation of visual and cognitive control networks. That might seem like a positive, but quick maturation also resulted in problems over time, such as delayed ability to make decisions during cognitive tasks.
“Accelerated maturation happens when certain brain networks develop too fast, often in response to adversity or other stimuli,” explained Dr. Huang Pei, the study’s first author, per a press release from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore.
For the study, Pei’s team used data from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort study. Data from 168 children covered infant screen time from age 1, diffusion MRI images from approximately age 4.5 to age 7.5, data about decision making performance at age 8.5 and data about anxiety symptoms at age 13.
They found that higher infant screen time was associated with a steeper decline in in visual-cognitive control network integration by the time children hit the 4.5 to 7.5 age range. By age 13, this was linked to prolonged decision latency and anxiety symptoms. Boston Children’s Hospital has also cited research that suggests that too much screen time during infancy could lead to problems with executive functioning.
“During normal development, brain networks gradually become more specialized over time,” Pei said. “However, in children with high screen exposure, the networks controlling vision and cognition specialized faster, before they had developed the efficient connections needed for complex thinking. This can limit flexibility and resilience, leaving the child less able to adapt later in life.”
Media Use Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend limited screen and media use for infants under 2 years old. It’s a recommendation that is related to this issue.
“Children younger than 2 learn best from exploring the world around them and playing with other children and adults, and they have a hard time understanding what they’re viewing on screens unless it’s explained by an adult,” the AAP said. “A good example of ways for this age group to use a digital device is to use Facetime or similar apps to video chat with family members. You might need to explain who is on the screen, repeat what they are saying, describe what is happening, etc.”
At the same time, parents often lean on screens, and children often like using them. According to research on families with children under age 13 published earlier this year by the Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, nearly half (49%) of parents rely on screens daily due to childcare challenges and more than half (59%) of children were using screens by the time they were 3 years old. A significant percentage of parents (54%) said they feared their children were addicted to screens.
Previous studies have also highlighted risks associated with screen time for both adults and children. Audacy has covered research that found daily screen use prior to bed by adults was associated with a 33% higher prevalence of poor sleep quality, that screen time may be linked to cardiometabolic and cardiovascular risk and that screen time could negatively impact language skills.
Authors of the recent study said that the “neural correlates and pathways” behind negative associations between screen use and brain development “remain understudied” and that they aimed to “assess the directional association between infant screen time, development of brain network topology, decision-making behavior and anxiety symptoms.”
Through their research, they determined that “sensory processing impairment may underlie this novel neurodevelopmental pathway, highlighting a potential target for early intervention,” regarding the link between screen time and brain development. Furthermore, they found that the “amount and type of screen exposure in infancy are largely determined by parental and caregiver awareness and parenting practices, highlighting a critical window for early guidance and intervention.”
One approach to mitigating the risks of screen time could be parent-child reading time. The same team that worked on the study published this week published a 2024 study in the Psychological Medicine journal found that 2024, alterations in brain networks that govern emotional regulation related to screen time could be counteracted with parent-child reading time.
“Among children whose parents read to them frequently at age three, the link between infant screen time and altered brain development was significantly weakened,” said the press release. Results of another study published earlier this year in the PLOS journal also indicated that “shared reading times,” benefited children’s reading skills.