New UC Davis research suggests parents should limit screen media for preschoolers
New research from University of California, Davis, suggests that parents should delay introducing their children to any screen media, as well as limit preschool-age children's use of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets.
The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics this week. Over a two-and-a-half-year period, researchers assessed 56 children aged 32 to 47 months and surveyed their parents. The research team assessed children's self-regulation skills, or those skills needed to plan, control, and monitor their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Young children's self-regulation skills predict later academic success, social functioning, physical and mental health, income, and criminality. Self-regulation skills were lower among children who began using any screen media devices (including television, computers, smartphones, and/or tablets) earlier in life, or who currently used mobile devices (smartphones and/or tablets) more often than others in the sample.
Text summary by DigitalPause based on an article from University of California, March 31, 2020