Screens have become an integral part of our daily routine, and this has extended to children as well. But how does screen time affect children’s developing brains, especially in terms of language skills?

Researchers in Estonia attempted to answer this question by surveying parents of over 400 children about their own screen use, their children’s screen habits, and their children’s language abilities.

The findings, published in Frontiers Developmental Psychology, revealed a clear connection: parents who spent a lot of time on screens had children who also spent more time on screens, which in turn was linked to weaker language skills.

“Our research shows that children’s screen viewing habits are very similar to those of their parents. Language experts highlight the importance of everyday interactions with adults for early language development, where active participation is crucial,” said Dr. Tiia Tuulviste from the University of Tartu and lead author of the study.

“However, screen time is increasingly becoming a part of family time, increasing competition between face-to-face interaction and screen use, which may impact language development,” the authors add.

Conversation plays an important role in language development, especially in cultures where children learn by talking to adults. Regular conversation helps children learn new words and sentence structures.

However, interruptions on the screen, whether through notifications or texts, can hinder these interactions.

To understand how screens affect language skills, it is necessary to analyse what type of screens children and adults are using and for what purpose.

Tulviste and co-investigator Dr. Jan Tulviste surveyed 421 children ages 2½ to 4 and asked their parents to estimate how much time each family member spent on screens over the weekend.

They also assessed how much time families spent looking at screens together, and collected data on children’s language skills.

The study classified parents and children into high, medium and low screen-use groups and found that children who spent less screen time had better grammar and vocabulary scores.

Notably, no type of screen use had a positive effect on language development, with video gaming having the most negative effect.

The cross-sectional design of the study limits long-term insights, but future research will explore how these patterns might change during the pandemic.