Media Exposure in Low-Income Preschool-Aged Children Is Associated with Multiple Measures of Self-Regulatory Behavior.
Tiffany G Munzer, Alison L Miller, Karen E Peterson and 6 others
PMID 29538186WHAT IT FOUND
In low-income preschoolers, more daily screen time and background TV were linked to shorter wait times in a delay-gratification task and higher parent-reported difficult temperament.
No associations were found with teacher-reported adaptive behavior. Direction of cause is unknown.
Key findings
01Each additional hour of daily screen media exposure was associated with a 10.30-second decrease in observed time waiting for a reward.
02Higher frequency of background TV was associated with shorter wait times in the delay-gratification task and greater parent-reported difficult temperament.
03No measure of screen media exposure was associated with teacher-reported child adaptive behavior.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if screen media causes self-regulation difficulties or if children with difficult temperament are given more screen media. The sample was limited to low-income preschoolers in Head Start, which restricts generalizability to other socioeconomic groups. Screen media exposure was measured by caregiver report, which is subject to recall bias and may not accurately capture true exposure. The study did not account for the type of device, the content of the media, or whether the media was co-viewed with a parent. The effect sizes for the associations were small (e.g., 10.30 seconds difference in wait time).
Declared interests
The authors declared no financial relationships or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume screen media causes self-regulation problems. The study is cross-sectional, so it is equally possible that children with difficult temperaments are given more screen media by parents as a calming strategy.