Technology may affect children in many of the same ways as adults, but because their brains are still developing, there may be some unique considerations.
Behavior problems
A 2019 United States study found that a higher amount of screen time in children ages between 9 and 10 had links to increased behavior problems.
The scientists found that this was largely explainable by the effect of technology use on sleep. The more sleep participants got, the fewer behavioral problems parents reported.
Difficulty concentrating
A large study from 2019Trusted Source in Canada found an association between screen time in children under 5 and a greater prevalence of symptoms resembling attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Specifically, they found that children getting screen time of over 2 hours a day had a 7.7-fold higher risk of meeting the criteria for ADHD.
However, this does not necessarily mean that screen time causes ADHD. The authors say that it is possible that parents of children with more symptoms offered more screen time as a way to soothe them.
Additionally, out of over 2,400 children involved in the study, only 24 (1%) met the criteria for ADHD.
The parents were also generally older in age, white, and from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, meaning these results may not represent the broader population.
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