Spending too much time in front of a mobile phone, a TV or tablet can cause behavioral and emotional problems to children. Too bad that to calm them we tend once again to contact the screens: this is the vicious circle highlighted by a meta-analysis published on Psychological Bulletinwho saw again 117 studies with data concerning over 292,000 children under the age of ten years from all over the world. Among the activities analyzed in the research there were theUse of social media and video games, school activities online and TV.
The screens-emotionality bond. Compared to the age group 0-5 years, children aged 6-10 were more at risk of developing socio-emotional problems due to the abuse of smartphones & co; The use of screens would be correlated not only to internalizing disordersas anxiety and depression, but also to outsourcing disordersas aggression and hyperactivity.
The type of content enjoyed by children also affects the consequences: the worst choice would be video games, while the risks decrease (but they do not cancel) when the screens are used for educational or recreational purposes. According to Michael Noetel, one of the authors, children used to being a lot in front of smartphones and tablets could need emotional support, and not just rules. “By understanding this bilateral relationship between screens and socio -emotional problems parents, educators and politicians can encourage healthy growth of children in an increasingly digitized world,” underlines Roberta Vasconcellos, coordinator of the research.
Causality confirmed? Noetel stresses that, since all their studies revised followed the children during a period of time of at least six months, their meta-analysis is almost a proof of the cause-effect relationship (and no more than mere correlation) between screens and socio-emotional disorders: however, “it is not yet possible to completely exclude other factors (such as the educational style) that could influence both the use of the screens and the emotional problems”, concludes.
