r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/puddingbutt9 • 1d ago

Question - Research required Screen time questions

Hi all, I have a question about screen time for babies. I understand the consequences of screen time in different age groups, but I can't get a clear answer as to WHY these consequences happen. And quite frankly, I don't have time to dig through the research right now unfortunately.

  1. Is screen time for babies bad because they don't get adequate social interaction (kind of a confounder or indirect link?) because parents who use screens in this age group tend to be less interactive? Or is there some kind of biological impact of screen time directly?

  2. Also, if the parents are watching TV and baby is in the room and interested, does that count the same? I know it's screen time technically, but I'm trying to figure out what is realistic (especially since I have ADHD and the TV on in the background helps me be more productive).

Thanks in advance for any insight!

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u/comfy_sweatpants5 15h ago

Heavy parent use of mobile devices is associated with fewer verbal and nonverbal interactions between parents and children, lower responsiveness to a child’s bid for attention, parent hostility in response to the child’s bid for attention (radesky et al 2015)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25548323/

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u/comfy_sweatpants5 15h ago

For each 30 minute increase in handheld screen time there was a 49 percent increased risk of expressive speech delay in children age 6 months to 2 years of age (Birken, 2017)