We have often talked about the negative relationship between screens and children’s development: now a Finnish study published on Pediatric Exercise Science seems (only apparently, however) to overturn this belief, highlighting a positive link between time spent on screens during childhood and better cognitive skills in adolescence. Warning: this is not an invitation to place your child in front of the smartphone from the age of two. The goal, the authors point out, is to balance physical activity and time on screens with apps or games that encourage active thinking.
Screens yes, but on one condition
The study was conducted on 124 girls and 136 boys with an average age of approximately 16 years. Researchers analyzed how physical activity, sedentary behavior and time spent on screens from childhood to adolescence affected cognitive abilities.
It has emerged that time spent on screens from childhood helps cognitive development, as long as it is quality time: activities that involve learning, creativity, problem solvingor other forms of active mental involvement. “We assume that the key question is what they do during the time spent in front of screens,” explains Petri Jalanko, coordinator of the study.
Physical activity and cognitive skills: It’s complicated
Physical activity was also important, but with differences between males and females. In girls, more time spent in light-intensity physical activity from childhood was associated with better working memory in adolescence. In boys, however, what made the difference was participation in guided physical activity (i.e. under the supervision of an adult) from childhood to adolescence, which was also linked to a more efficient working memory.
A more surprising finding concerns unsupervised physical activity: the researchers observed that lower levels of self-reported exercise, reported by the children themselves, were associated with better cognitive processing capacity in adolescence, a result that goes against the trend of what one would expect.
Pay attention to the conclusions
It is important to underline that the authors do not in any way encourage the use of screens, and do not claim that there is a causal link between screen time and better cognitive skills. Instead, they urge us not to draw definitive conclusions, noting that the associations between physical activity, time on screens and cognitive abilities depend in part on gender, as well as on the measurement methods and the context in which these activities take place.
