Parental Reports on Touch Screen Use in Early Childhood

Alejandrina Cristia,Amanda Seidl,Andrew Bremner

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128338

Abstract

Touch screens are increasingly prevalent, and anecdotal evidence suggests that young children are very drawn towards them. Yet there is little data regarding how young children use them. A brief online questionnaire queried over 450 French parents of infants between the ages of 5 and 40 months on their young child’s use of touch-screen technology. Parents estimated frequency of use, and further completed several checklists. Results suggest that, among respondent families, the use of touch screens is widespread in early childhood, meaning that most children have some exposure to touch screens. Among child users, certain activities are more frequently reported to be liked than others, findings that we discuss in light of current concern for children’s employment of time and the cognitive effects of passive media exposure. Additionally, these parental reports point to clear developmental trends for certain types of interactive gestures. These results contribute to the investigation of touch screen use on early development and suggest a number of considerations that should help improve the design of applications geared towards toddlers, particularly for scientific purposes.

Highlights

Touch screens are increasingly prevalent in many societies and, according to anecdotal reports, young children are drawn to them and quickly become expert users
What are the implications of these prevalence and frequency results for the two communities that we are seeking to inform? Even though we have found some differences in overall prevalence, it appears that both French and American children are exposed to touch screens, according to parental reports
We have reported on a parental questionnaire asking about the prevalence of touch screen use among children, the frequency with which they use such technology, the kinds of activities they enjoy, and the gestures they employ to interact with such tools

Summary

Introduction

Touch screens are increasingly prevalent in many societies and, according to anecdotal reports, young children are drawn to them and quickly become expert users. The use of touch-screen devices has, up to now, mainly been studied in the context of media use in general (e.g., [1]). These investigations are marked by a debate regarding the potentially noxious effects of passive exposure to television, for children under 2 years of age (e.g., [2]). One concern relates to frequency of use, as correlational analyses suggest that for every hour children under 2 years of age spend watching TV, they spend about 50 minutes less interacting

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Discussion

Conclusion