Research Hit: Digital Devices Hinder Children's Emotional Development

New research shows that using digital devices to calm children down impairs development of emotional regulation mechanisms.
 

 So another one on digital use by kids - but what age are we talking about?
I have written before about various impacts of digital devices, social media use, and gaming but mostly by adolescents. This study looked at preschool children in Canada, that is ages 2-5.


Are kids that young using digital devices?!
Well, it now seems to be the default parenting mechanism in many families - I am also surprised by how parents give very young children digital devices to entertain them. But this particular longitudinal study by Konok et al. (a collaboration between Canadian and Hungarian researchers) looked at using digital devices to calm children down - using them as cures for the dreaded children tantrums common at this age.

And does this work?
Well, kind of. The problem is not whether a digital device can calm a child down temporarily but what it does to their emotional regulation system. This is what they tracked over time.

And what is the impact?
They followed up a year later after giving parents multiple questionnaires. And the bad news is that using digital devices to calm children down has a longer-term negative impact, specifically in the children showing poorer anger and frustration management.
This is in notable contrast to positive parental interventions i.e. speaking to the children and guiding them to better manage their emotions.
Basically giving kids digital devices lowers their emotional regulation abilities so just perpetuates the problem - or makes it worse in older ages.
Positive parental interventions are the most effective method.

So good ‘ole parenting skills are best!
Yes, probably no surprise, but certainly good to know what the negative impacts of digital devices are at this age. And a good reminder to use those good ’ole parenting skills.

Our results suggest that parents of children with greater temperament-based anger use digital devices to regulate the child's emotions (e.g., anger). However, this strategy hinders development of self-regulatory skills, leading to poorer effortful control and anger management in the child.

by ANDY HAYMAKER
Photocredit: Unsplash