Screen time and cognitive skills often predict each other over time, but the pattern varies by child

A recent study published in the Journal of Communication reveals that the relationship between using screens to soothe distressed children and their cognitive skill development is often reciprocal, but can differ from one child to another. The research team, led by Assistant Professor Jane Shawcroft of Ohio State University, aimed to understand the temporal ordering of this relationship.

This means determining whether screen use leads to changes in cognitive development, or if cognitive development influences screen use. To achieve this, the researchers analyzed data from Project M.E.D.I.A., a long-term study tracking the development of 87 children from age two and a half to seven and a half. Parents reported on media use and completed surveys on their children's cognitive abilities at various points over the years.

The children also completed tasks assessing executive functions, including cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. The study identified three distinct patterns of temporal ordering among the children. The majority, 87.36 percent or 76 children, belonged to the Bidirectional class, where media use and cognitive skills influenced each other over time.

Only 7 percent of the children, six in total, fell into the Media Emotion Regulation Driven class, where parental screen use strongly predicted their children's cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Lastly, 6 percent of the children, five in total, were part of the Diverging Temporal Ordering group, where media use predicted their children's cognitive flexibility, but inhibitory control predicted media use.

Interestingly, the researchers found that a parent's mental health, specifically higher levels of depressive symptoms, was linked to a child being part of the Media Emotion Regulation Driven or Diverging Temporal Ordering groups.