As early exposure to digital devices becomes increasingly common, especially for parents’ management of minor tantrums, experts explain how this practice could hinder children’s emotional development.
In recent years, children born within the framework of the digital revolution they have been surrounded by screensand sometimes even exposed to them from a very young age.
One of the ways this manifests itself is through the growing tendency of parents to use digital devices as tool to manage emotions of their children, especially the negative ones.
Although this method may be effective in the short term, ongoing research suggests that it could significantly hinder children’s emotional development, causing behavior problems and emotional in the long term.
“Emotion control, or emotional regulation, improves with age and through social interactions with others. touch screen devices limit opportunities for the types of interactions necessary to develop emotional regulation“Dr Michael Nagel, Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at the University of the Sunshine Coast, told Euronews Health.
Recently, a team of researchers from Hungary and Canada has studied how the use of digital devices as a tool for stop tantrums of children, or as “digital pacifiers”, could affect children’s emotional development. The results were published en la revista ‘Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’.
The study revealed that children who accessed digital devices frequently during tantrums showed worse anger management skills and more emotional regulation problems as they grew older.
“Here we show that if parents regularly offer a digital device to their children to calm them down or to end a tantrum, the child does notor you will learn to regulate your emotions“, he indicated it’s a statement Veronika Konok, a doctor who took part in the study.
The negative impact of early and regular exposure to screens is not limited to their use to regulate tantrums. Early access to digital devices in general has meant a matter of concern growing among doctors and researchers in this field.
Dr. Daniel Ganjian, a registered pediatrician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in the United States, states that excessive screen time can reduce the emotional regulation capacity of children, who do not develop healthy coping mechanisms due to distractions caused by digital devices.
“Spending too much time online can limit opportunities for face-to-face interaction and social development, which can lead to loneliness and social anxiety,” he explained to ‘Euronews Health’.
Furthermore, in a book by who is co-authorNagel points out that there is a growing connection between early intensive screen exposurewhich refers to the use of digital devices for more than four hours a day, and the manifestation of “autism-like behaviors” in children.
Thus, the doctor explains that “children who spend more time in virtual worlds than real ones run the risk of poorly developing social and emotional skills, such as emotional regulation, which can imitate behaviors similar to related to autism“.
Others research corroborates these conclusions, as researchers observe more and more symptoms of the so-called autism spectrum disorderASD, in young children highly exposed to screens.
However, the symptoms they presented, such as hyperactivity and lack of facial expressions typical, in addition to other characteristics of ASD, were not permanent.
These symptoms were found to disappear or significantly decrease after screen exposure was eliminated and that children participate in more interactions face to face with their parents.
ADVERTISINGHow to Limit the Harmful Effects of Screen Time on Children
Although it has been difficult to specify how long is too long when it comes to the use of digital devicesthere are some general warning signs that parents and caregivers could look out for.
Nagel cites behavioral problems, difficulties maintaining eye contact, delays in language development, sleeping problemsincreased impulsivity and difficulties in social interactions as some of these signs.
“We can’t really say how much screen time It’s too much timebut what we can say is that children they need to spend more moments with real people in real time than on screens,” says Nagel.
Given the growing number of studies that relate digital devices to the deterioration of emotional development of childrenthere are some measures that could be taken to limit these effects.
ADVERTISINGGanjian suggests that parents set clear limits on screen time, designate digital device-free zones and times, and encourage more physical activity, creative game and social interaction.
In addition, he added that setting an example for children is also important, and parents are encouraged to be aware of their own use of digital devices close to their children, and also, to Work together with them to develop healthy habits.
“By most measures, and increasing evidence, children ages 0 to 2 should not be in front of screens. From ages 2 to 5, no more than one hour a day together with their parents or siblings, and from 5 to 17 years old, in general, no more than two hours a day. Except, maybe, to do school-related tasks,” Nagel recommends.
The doctor adds that to prevent the development of mental disorders such as anxietydepression and even self-harm, access to social networks should be restricted before the age of 16.
ADVERTISING“Children and teenagers need real friends in real time, not hundreds of ‘friends’ in cyberspace. Furthermore, they need be present in the real world instead of being eternally somewhere else in a virtual world,” says Nagel.
