We see it everywhere these days, eyes glued to smartphones and tablets. This includes children of parents who hand over these digital devices to their young children to get them to calm down so mom or dad can take care of some pressing interaction like a doctor visit or simple car ride without behavior issues. In the short run, the child calms, parents finish their appointment, bank visit, or car ride. In the long run, many have questioned whether this might have negative effects down the road. This study indicates that such use of digital calming in 3 to 5 year-olds correlates with higher emotional reactivity 3 to 6 months later.
Every parent has faced the stress of having a child who is far less than excited about sitting still and remaining quiet during some interaction in which the parent searches for something to distract the child for a time. Prior to the widespread availability of digital devices like smartphones or play devices designed for children, children were left with coloring books, picture books, or just instructed to distract themselves. Now, a million games, videos, and more await children in the digital world. Parents may resort to these tools regularly or only when “absolutely necessary”, but still it happens.
Many in the world of medicine and child development, along with parents themselves have wondered how this frequent use of technology might be affecting children during critical developmental times in early childhood. Parents asked if giving in to children’s demands might make them dependent on such technology to calm or maybe set the parent up for manipulation by the child. Many parents reassure themselves that it is not “that often” and can’t be “that bad”. In medicine, we see more and more neurocognitive issues like ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other minor behavioral dysfunctions. With that in mind, we ask “why are we seeing more of this now?”
This study looked at over 400 three to five year-old children with their parents comparing their use of digital devices to regulate children’s behavior. The researchers used the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function–Preschool Version Global Executive Composite and the Child Behavior Checklist Emotional Reactivity subscale to evaluate emotional/behavioral outcomes. Besides comparing low versus high use of the electronic devices, they compared use and effects between boys and girls.
While there was an association with higher emotional reactivity at 3 months in all children, then strongest association was in boys and in children with what is called high temperamental surgency. This just meant that children who already had challenges controlling emotions seemed to be more affected negatively by the use of digital devices to calm behavior. Their conclusion was that
“the frequent use of mobile devices for calming young children may displace their opportunities for learning emotion-regulation strategies over time; therefore, pediatric health care professionals may wish to encourage alternate calming approaches.”
While the full paper requires purchase, a online summary by Science Daily highlights alternatives to digital devices offered by the study author:
- Sensory techniques: Understanding an individual child’s patterns of sensory needs allows parents to tailor their instructions to the child for self-calming.
- Name the emotion: Teaching children to verbally name the emotions they are feeling and guiding the child to an appropriate response to that emotion is a better long-term method of behavior management.
- Color zones: For young children who are not able to think abstractly in terms of emotions, parents can use color zones to help kids understand and express how they feel. Red might stand for anger or feeling “explosive”. Green could stand for calm. Providing kids with visual clues or pictures can help them work back into good color zones.
- Replacement behaviors: The simple act of redirecting children’s inappropriate responses to an emotion into an appropriate response goes further than digital distractions.
As we raise the next generation, we need old-fashioned methods of parenting and behavioral development rather than developmentally harmful band-aids. For parents reading this, do not hear any condemnation of your parenting. Raising children today is difficult. Just hear us saying that we want your children to grow up emotional resilient and able to self-regulate emotions without depending on digital devices. Knowing that a parenting practice is less than ideal is the first step to choosing better options. Helping your children live healthier more abundant lives for a lifetime starts at the beginning of life.
Original Article:
Jenny S. Radesky, Niko Kaciroti, Heidi M. Weeks, Alexandria Schaller, Alison L. Miller. Longitudinal Associations Between Use of Mobile Devices for Calming and Emotional Reactivity and Executive Functioning in Children Aged 3 to 5 Years. JAMA Pediatrics, 2022; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.4793
Thanks to Science Daily:
Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan. (2022, December 12). Frequently using digital devices to soothe young children may backfire. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 14, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221212140614.htm
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
