Paavonen said the kids who racked up the most screen time were more likely to have:
- Emotional symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, low mood and fearfulness.
- Behavioral symptoms, like quarrels, anger management issues and oppositional behavior.
- Attention problems, such as difficulty concentrating, overactivity and impulsive behavior.
However, this only held for time spent passively watching shows. These effects were not associated with time spent on video games, after controlling for other factors.
Viewing programs was associated with a more than doubled risk of hyperactivity; a 91% increased risk of attention and concentration difficulties; and a 71% increased risk of emotional problems, for example.
There are several potential explanations for these effects, Paavonen said.
“Screen time may replace significant other activities, like socializing with peers and family members, which can be problematic because children learn social skills by practice in everyday life,” she said. “Screen time, particularly in the evening, can replace sleep time, and it is in other studies related to delayed bedtimes and sleep onset problems and thus lack of sleep, which in turn is related to worse emotional regulation.”
Video games might not produce the same effects as watching shows because they are more interactive, said Dr. Jaeah Chung, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who reviewed the findings.
“Some of the games are based on physical activity, like Wii, and others are more based on problem-solving or more interactive,” she said.
Chung suggests that parents screen all content for their kids, and watch along with them to make the experience more thoughtful and less passive.
“Depending on the age, they may not understand what’s going on in the media, so it’s good to ask questions like what do you think is going on, or how do you think that character felt,” she said.
Parents also should limit media use in the house, setting aside mealtimes as screen-free and requiring that kids only use devices in a common area like the living room so they can monitor what’s being viewed, Chung added.
The findings were published March 17 in the journal BMJ Open.
More information
The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about recommended screen time for families.