Screen Time and Its Effects on Cognitive and Emotional Wellbeing

This report examines the impact of screen time on young children, addressing the increasing prevalence of screen usage and its potential adverse effects. It synthesizes research from various sources, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, to explore the cognitive, emotional, and social consequences of excessive screen time. The report discusses the limitations of existing studies, such as the reliance on secondary data and confounding variables, while also highlighting key findings. It covers topics such as cognitive disabilities, sleep disturbances, childhood obesity, psychological well-being, and social interactions. The report also explores parental influences and the role of socio-cognitive theory in understanding children's screen time habits. It concludes with a summary of the key findings and suggestions for future research directions, including the need for more quantitative studies and the inclusion of children's and parents' perspectives. The report emphasizes the importance of parental practices and screen time restrictions in mitigating the negative impacts.

Running head: SCREEN TIME AND YOUNG CHILDREN
SCREEN TIME AND YOUNG CHILDREN
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Topic: SCREEN TIME AND YOUNG CHILDREN
Introduction:
Children and their screening time are inseparable today since the majority of the young
children spend their time in front of screening for playing games on their electronic device or
watching. a range of national and global literature highlighted that the majority of young children
routinely engage in more than two hours of screen time per day . The children of 4 to 10 years
usually spent more than 2 hours in front of a screen which further induces psychological and
physical disabilities such as sleeping problem, obesity, unhealthy dietary habits (Aifs.gov.au
2019). Hence, this paper is aiming to discuss the explanation of why and how excessive exposure
is not harmful to the children and impact of the cognitive, emotions and relationship and
emotional wellbeing of the children in following paragraphs.
Discussion:
The excessive screen time of young children is considered as a public health concern
where parents are recommended to restrict the screening time for preventing harmful impact. A
significant number of researchers highlighted that excessive screen time induces cognitive
disabilities, retardation of memory, poor vision and other harmful effects (Domingues‐
Montanari, 2017). Consequently, the rate of chronic disease and premature death amongst infants
and adolescents is significantly higher compared to other countries (Houghton et al., 2015).
Straker et al. (2016) conduct a systematic review on the reason behind sedentary behaviors of
children and mechanism of sedentary behavior to impact on child health and the different types

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of sedentary behavior in children. The population of the majority of reviews was the children in
between 2 to 6 years. The result of the study suggested that the majority of the children exhibit
the sedentary lifestyle due to the excessive screen time which in turn facilitate harmful impact on
the young children of Australia. A significant number of preschool students are obese and tend to
have poor sleeping pattern due to screening time. They exhibit a lower level of muscle activity
and decreased the level of energy expenditure which impacts their metabolic health and poor
cardiometabolic outcome. Excessive screen time also reduces social interactions in adolescents
and decrease cognitive performance. Hence, it changes the outlook of young children for living a
healthy life. The limitation of the study is that the researchers conducted a secondary study for
addressing the research question and provide very limited intervention to mitigate the issues. For
evaluating how excessive exposure to screens might young children, Hale, and Guan (2015)
conducted a systematic review by incorporating 67 articles based on Australian school-going
children and adolescents.
The researcher argued that screen time is adversely associated with poor sleep outcomes
where excessive screen time primarily shortened the duration and delay in sleep in 90% of
studies. In this case, the limitation of the screen time before sleep time may have a positive effect
on sleeping pattern and cognitive development. The limitation of the study is that the researchers
did not consider the size and closeness to the factor while drawing the relationship between
sleeping pattern and screen time. Another limitation is the study is a secondary study which
further reduced the accuracy of the study. To support this argument, Brown, and Smolenaers
(2018), conducted a semi-structured interview on the parents of the children of 0 to 2 years for
gathering an understanding of the screening time amongst children. The result of the study
suggested that while many patterns restrict the screen time of the children, the prime reason

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behind the harmful impact of the excessive screen time is the working parents who tend to
indulge screening time for keeping them busy. The researchers also highlighted that many
parents admitted that the infants spend in front of the screen if their parents do the same or if
their peers do the same. Hence, children usually experience developmental and memory issues.
The limitation of the study is that the study has a personal bias since the personal values and
beliefs of the parents were documented. To explain the reason behind such behavior of the
children, bandura’s socio-cognitive theory suggested that individuals usually gather skills and
knowledge by observing others in the social context or imitating them (Brown & Smolenaers
2018). In this case, children with excessive screen time usually develop this habit from their
parents or peers.
Many researchers also showed the association between screen time and childhood
obesity in children of Australia. Preschool children are usually involved in the physical activity
as a part of the school curriculum and during leisure time which hinders in the presence of
excessive screen time. LeBlanc et al. (2015) conducted an experimental study by including 5,844
children from different countries. The result of the study suggested that the young children of 5
to 10 years with excessive screen time have limited the locomotive skills and physical skills
since the majority of the time they spend in front of electronic device and binge eating which
induce childhood obesity. The limitation of the study is the large sample size which impacts the
accuracy of the result. The confounding factor in the study is binge eating and other physical
factors which facilitate obesity. Considering psychological factors behind excessive screen time
of the children, Twenge and Campbell (2018), conducted a randomized control trial for the
impact of screen time on the psychological wellbeing of 2- to 17-year-old children and

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adolescents. The result of the study suggested that children with excess screen time usually
subjected to high psychological and cognitive impairment. They also exhibit issues associated
with attention and underachieved academically. The children tend to exhibit less curiosity, lower
self-control, more difficulty making friends, less emotional stability. The limitation of the study
is that measures may be influenced by perceptions of caregiver and underreport issues that
children do not disclose to their parents. In this case, these factors are confounding factors which
may impact the result of the study. The major impact and underlying reason for excessive screen
time were exhibited by Liu, Wu, and Yao, S. (2016) where researchers conducted a meta-
analysis of 12 cross-sectional studies. The result of the study suggested that children with high
screen time exhibit the symptoms of depression. The researchers suggested that violent,
depression and aggressive content which subject them into high psychological distress. The
limitation of the study is the population bias in the research. Aishworiya et al. (2018), also
suggested the developmental disabilities, socio-cognitive impairment, poor sleeping habit and
lack of self-control amongst the children with the assistance of DSM v. The findings suggested
that older children and single‐parent families exhibited developmental disabilities and poor sleep
duration of 4 to 5 hours instead of 8 hours. The limitation of the study is the presence of
confounding factor such as single‐parent family. Lauricella, Wartella and Rideout, V. J. (2015),
conducted a survey on 2300 parents of children ages 0–8 and result of the study highlighted that
the screen time use is the result of an interaction of parents and children factors. In this case,
while excessive screen time facilitates the poor parent-children relationship, the excessive screen
time can be the result of high conflict between parent and children. The children tend to
experience social exclusion, lack of interactions with peers. The excessive screening time also
associated with body image, especially in the case of girl children. Hence, proper parental and

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educational practice and restriction of the screen time in the home can reduce the side effects
with excessive screen time.
Limitation of the study:
The limitation of the study is that the majority of the study for this literature review is the
secondary study and have many confounding factors which further impact the result. The paper
showed limited exploration of parental practice and underreported children issues. In this case, in
case of improving the result of the study, primary study with consideration of these factors are
required to consider.
Conclusion:
` On a concluding note, it can be said that young children routinely engage in more than two
hours of screen time per day which further induce psychological, cognitive and physical
difficulties amongst children. The children with high screen time exhibited cognitive disabilities,
retardation of memory, poor vision and other harm effects. Consequently, the rate of chronic
disease and premature death amongst infants and adolescents is significantly higher compared to
other countries. Hence, screening time and associated impact are considered as the public health
concern where policymakers are taking initiatives to prevent such strategies. The children with
excessive screen time show a sleeping pattern of 4 to 5 hours and binge eating habit. They are at
higher riks of experience low psychosocial wellbeing and may exhibit less curiosity, poor
academic performance, less emotional stability. The limitation of the study is that measures may
be influenced by perceptions of caregiver and underreport issues that children do not disclose to
their parents. In this case, appropriate parental and caregiver’s practice and restriction of the

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screen time may address this issue. The future direction of the study is extensive research based
on quantitive study design by incorporating the perception of children and parent.

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References
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Available at: https://aifs.gov.au/publications/childrens-screen-time [Accessed 17 Sep. 2019].
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