Early results of a timely pandemic study by 乱伦小可爱 psychologist Joshua Hartshorne show that increased screen time by children is likely an indicator of family distress.
When the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed life for American families due to school and daycare closures, children began spending dramatically more time engrossed with cell phones, computers, and televisions.
鈥淎s it turns out, screens are the babysitter of last resort,鈥� Hartshorne explained. 鈥淚 was surprised how closely the increased screen time results tracked school and daycare closures. It was basically instantaneous."
Joshua Hartshorne
鈥淪creen time is a symptom of a family in distress,鈥� added Hartshorne, who is the study鈥檚 co-principal investigator, an assistant professor in 乱伦小可爱's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, and head of the University鈥檚 Language Learning Lab. 鈥淭he COVID data seems consistent. Take parents. Take away child care. Stress and screen time go up.鈥�
Prior to the COVID crisis, increased screen time for youths already was of concern to parents, educators, and policymakers, given its association with negative developmental outcomes. Interventions over the past few decades have focused on educating parents about these dangers and advising them on how to limit screen time.
But during the pandemic, screen time spiked as a direct result of the sudden decrease in adult caretaker availability, according Hartshorne.
鈥淭his indicates that lower screen-time rates prior to the pandemic were not merely a function of well-informed parenting but of well-resourced parenting,鈥� he explained. His study, funded by the National Science Foundation, addresses implications for policy and for the ongoing scientific debate about whether screen time is actually problematic for child development.
鈥淪ince lockdowns and school closures proliferated in late winter, there has been extensive discussion about their effects on children among policymakers, educators, scientists, parents, and the public at large. People have been particularly concerned about a potential rise in screen time, especially TV and social media,鈥� Hartshorne said.
鈥淲e set out to answer two questions. First, is screen time really increasing? Second, why is it increasing? Without answering the second question, it's hard to know what to do about it."
A third question鈥攚hether screen time is actually bad for children鈥攚ill be examined in the second phase of the project. 鈥淒espite consensus among the general public, scientists are actually pretty uncertain about that,鈥� he said.
“The COVID data seems consistent: Take parents. Take away child care. Stress and screen time go up.”
Hartshorne鈥檚 team queried both kids and parents about screen time, through its own surveys and those of other researchers. The team also employed public data sets about COVID and data on actual screen time usage from Reelgood, a company that manages streaming subscriptions.
Findings confirmed the team鈥檚 premise that screen time had increased during the pandemic,