(Paris) The time children spend in front of screens partly influences their development, but these effects are limited and depend mainly on the way children are exposed to the screen, according to a major study published on Wednesday.
Posted at 10:11 am.
It is “the context in which screens are used, and not just screen time, that plays a role in children’s cognitive development,” conclude the authors of this study, conducted under the auspices of Inserm and published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
The excessive exposure of children to screens – computers, smartphones, televisions – has for several years caused a wave of alarmism among several political leaders and some caregivers, who see it as a serious threat, even causing shock in some, in connection with autism .
However, the scientific consensus is much more measured. The study by Inserm (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) joins a series of other works that put the problems associated with the use of screens themselves into perspective and place them in a broader context.
This is a “cohort” study, a type of work that allows for very strong conclusions. A large group of people – 14,000 children here – have been persecuted there for years.
The researchers examined these children at three ages: 2 years old, 3 1/2 years old, then 5 1/2 years old. They conclude that there is a “limited” connection between screen use and their intellectual development.
Certainly, “at ages 3.5 and 5.5 years, screen exposure time was associated with poorer overall cognitive development scores, particularly in the areas of fine motor skills, language and autonomy,” Inserm explains in a press release.
“However, lifestyle factors that are likely to influence cognitive development were taken into account […]the negative relationship was reduced and became low in magnitude,” the organization continues.
In other words, it is not so much the presence of screens that influences a child’s development, but rather when and how the child looks at them.
For example, the children studied seemed to suffer significantly from frequently watching television in the family during mealtimes.
“Because television attracts the attention of family members, it affects the quality and quantity of interactions between parent and child,” epidemiologist Shuai Yang, lead author of the study, said in the press release. “However, this is crucial for language acquisition at this age. »