Experts debate about how harmful screen time is to children. Some studies see positive social interaction with peers while others see signs that time on smartphones is displacing sleep, exercise and book reading. If you’re worried about the latter, researchers at Penn State have highlighted which youngsters might be most vulnerable to getting sucked into the captivating power of the internet.   

The study, “Risk and Protective Factors for Frequent Electronic Device Use of Online Technologies,” was published online January 2021 in the journal Child Development.

• Low-income and Black kindergarteners are more likely to become frequent users of online technologies (gaming, social media and texting) by the end of elementary school. 
• Hyperactive children and those who display aggressive behavior are also at higher risk. 
• There’s a gender divide among heavy users. Boys tend to be gamers and girls tend to gravitate toward social media and texting. 

• Reading to young children and encouraging them to read picture books outside of school might help protect them from becoming heavy device users.  

• Parents of hyperactive or aggressive children might unintentionally reinforce the habit of using a smartphone or a tablet by turning to the technologies to manage outbursts.

Morgan, P.,  Wang, Y.,  Woods, A. (2020) Risk and Protective Factors for Frequent Electronic Device Use of Online Technologies. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13532 

Mundy, L. K., Canterford, L., Hoq, M., Olds, T., Moreno Betancur, M., Sawyer, S., . . . Patton, G. C. (2020). Electronic media use and academic performance in late childhood: A longitudinal study. PLoS One, 15, e0237908. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237 908 

Orben, A. (2020). Teenagers, screens and social media: A narrative review of reviews and key studies. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55, 407–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01825-4  

Orben, A., Dienlin, T., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). Social media’s enduring effect on adolescent life satisfaction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 10226–10228. https://doi.org/ 10.1073/pnas.1902058116  

Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). Screens, teens, and psychological well-being: Evidence from three time-use-diary studies. Psychological Science, 30, 682– 696. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619830329  

Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use. Nature Human Behaviour, 3, 173–182. https://doi. org/10.1038/s41562-018-0506-1 

Vannucci, A., Simpson, E. G., Gagnon, S., & Mccauley, C. (2020). Social media use and risky behaviors in adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Adolescence, 79, 258–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.01. 014 

Marcelo, A. K., & Yates, T. M. (2019). Young children’s ethnic-racial identity moderates the impact of early discrimination experiences on child behavior problems. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25, 253–265. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000220