Estonian scientists surveyed more than 400 parents about their screen use, their children's screen use, and their children's language skills.
The findings, published in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, found that parents who use screens a lot are more likely to have children who use screens a lot, and that children's increased screen time is linked to poorer language skills.
"Research shows that during the first years of life, the most influential factor is everyday face-to-face verbal parent-child interaction," said lead author Dr. Tia Tulviste of the University of Tartu, Estonia.
In a survey of 421 children aged two and a half to four years, the team asked parents to estimate how much time each family member would spend using various screen devices per day. Parents were also asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing their children's language ability.
The researchers divided both children and adults into three screen use groups, low and moderate.
They found that parents who use screens a lot have children who also use screens a lot.
Analyzing the language development of these children, the team found that children who used screens less scored higher in both grammar and vocabulary. No type of screen use had a positive effect on children's language skills.
Tulviste said reading e-books and playing educational games can provide opportunities for language learning, especially for older children.
But, the researcher said that using screens for video games had a notable negative impact on children's language skills, regardless of whether the parent or child was doing the gaming.
The findings, published in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, found that parents who use screens a lot are more likely to have children who use screens a lot, and that children's increased screen time is linked to poorer language skills.
"Research shows that during the first years of life, the most influential factor is everyday face-to-face verbal parent-child interaction," said lead author Dr. Tia Tulviste of the University of Tartu, Estonia.
In a survey of 421 children aged two and a half to four years, the team asked parents to estimate how much time each family member would spend using various screen devices per day. Parents were also asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing their children's language ability.
The researchers divided both children and adults into three screen use groups, low and moderate.
They found that parents who use screens a lot have children who also use screens a lot.
Analyzing the language development of these children, the team found that children who used screens less scored higher in both grammar and vocabulary. No type of screen use had a positive effect on children's language skills.
Tulviste said reading e-books and playing educational games can provide opportunities for language learning, especially for older children.
But, the researcher said that using screens for video games had a notable negative impact on children's language skills, regardless of whether the parent or child was doing the gaming.
