Allowing children under the age of 2 to have too much screen time may contribute to the development of atypical sensory processing behaviors, according to a new study from Drexel’s College of Medicine.
To assess the children’s sensory processing outcomes at 33 months, the researchers administered a questionnaire to parents or caregivers, designed to give insights into how children process what they see, hear, and smell.
Karen Heffler, an associate psychiatry professor at Drexel University and lead author of the study, said this correlation could bring “important implications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism.”
The researchers found that children exposed to greater television viewing by their second birthday were more likely to develop atypical sensory processing behaviors, such as “sensation seeking” and “sensation avoiding,” as well as “low registration” by 33 months old.
Children exposed to any screen time at the age of 12 months were found to have a 105 percent greater likelihood of exhibiting “high sensory behaviors” instead of typical sensory behaviors related to low registration at 33 months.
At the age of 18 months, each additional hour of daily screen time was linked with a 23 percent increase in the likelihood of exhibiting ‘high’ sensory behaviors, which are related to sensation avoidance and low sensory registration.
Researchers also discovered that among children at 24 months old, each additional hour of daily screen time was associated with a 20 percent increase in the likelihood of exhibiting ‘high’ levels of sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation-avoiding behaviors at 33 months.
The study also highlighted health and developmental outcomes linked to screen time in infants and toddlers, including language delay, autism spectrum disorder, behavioral issues, sleep struggles, attention problems, and problem-solving delays.
According to the results, those who had more than four hours of screen time per day were the most likely to have developmental delays in all four criteria by age 2.
They were also found to be more likely to have continued delays in both communication and problem-solving skills by age 4.
“Mothers of children with high levels of screen time were characterized as being younger, having never given birth, and having a lower household income, lower maternal education level, and having postpartum depression,” the paper stated.
The researchers did recognize the difficulty for today’s parents to cut down screen usage. If exposure seems unavoidable, they said, it might be better for parents to watch some high-quality educational programs with their children together.
