Benefits and damages of the use of touchscreen devices for the development and behavior of children under 5 years old\u2014a systematic review

Bruno Rocha,Cristina Nunes

doi:10.1186/s41155-020-00163-8

Bruno Rocha, Cristina Nunes

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-020-00163-8

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Abstract

AimSeveral health organizations have been expressing concern about the amount of time children spend using electronic devices and about the benefits and damages of the use of touchscreen devices, such as smartphones or tablets, for the development and behavior of children under the age of 5. A systematic review was carried out in order to understand the impact of touchscreen device usage toward children’s development and behavior under the age of 5.MethodsUsing the PRISMA method, from a total of 6314 studies found in online databases, searched in English, between 01/01/2000 and 01/10/2018, 11 studies were selected for analysis.ResultsThe results revealed that, in children under the age of 5, the damages of the use of touchscreen devices are superior to the benefits that may result, especially when there are more hours of screen time. More importance is given to the quality of the child-adult relationship and not to the use of touchscreen devices. Nevertheless, some studies emphasize some aspects that may reduce the negative effects, such as moderate use, less screen time, parental monitoring, and viewing educational programs in an academic environment.ConclusionsGuidelines that should be given to parents about the use of touchscreen devices by children are discussed. The limitation of this study was the difficulty in finding studies directed to the desired age and type of electronic device. This may be taken as a potential cause of bias.

Highlights

The way electronic devices and the internet have been integrating our lifestyle is a current concern
It is recommended that the use of electronic devices should be limited to children and be proportional to the ages and stages of cerebral, mental, cognitive, and psychosocial development (SBP, 2016)
Despite the major frequency of children watching television in the children’s screen time, this study focuses on the use of touchscreen devices, such as the smartphone and the tablet being the ones more relevant in the literature

Summary

Introduction

The way electronic devices and the internet have been integrating our lifestyle is a current concern. It is recommended that the use of electronic devices should be limited to children and be proportional to the ages and stages of cerebral, mental, cognitive, and psychosocial development (SBP, 2016). Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP) advise against using electronic devices until the age of 2 (AAP Council on Communications and Media, 2016; SBP, 2016), noting that despite the benefits, the damages that affect children are bigger. It states that before 18 months, the only type of screen exposure tolerated is video chatting

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