A new study shows that soothing children with digital devices may lead to more problems with their emotional interaction.
According to JAMA Pediatrics, the American medical journal that published the study, the researchers looked at 422 reactions from parents and caregivers to assess how likely they were to use devices to distract their children, ages 3 and 5, and what their behavior was like over a six-month period. Frequent use of digital devices to distract from disruptive behavior, such as temper tantrums, was linked to more emotional distress in children, reports a local Arabic daily.
“When your child is going through a difficult emotional moment, that means he’s yelling and crying about something, he’s feeling frustrated, and he might hit or kick or lie on the floor if your strategy is this,” said lead study author Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician.
“Distracting them or keeping them silent with electronic media, the study suggests, does not help them in the long run.”
“This method does not help the child confront and respond to their difficult feelings,” Radesky explained. Not only that, but it makes them believe that their difficult feelings are an effective way to get what they want.
The study aligns with current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the World Health Organization, that children between the ages of 2 and 5 should have very limited viewing time, said Dr. Joyce Harrison, associate clinical professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.