Longitudinal Associations Between Use of Mobile Devices for Calming and Emotional Reactivity and Executive Functioning in Children Aged 3 to 5 Years

Radesky's team followed 422 children (average age about 3.8) and their parents over six months to look at what happens when parents regularly hand a child a phone or tablet specifically to calm them down during a tantrum or upset moment. They found that, among boys, more frequent device use for calming at an early check-in was associated with greater emotional reactivity three months later, and for children with an already high-energy temperament, calming-device use and later emotional reactivity appeared to reinforce each other over time. The authors frame this as consistent with the idea that leaning on a screen to soothe a child may, for some children, displace opportunities to practice their own emotion-regulation skills, rather than as proof that devices themselves damage a child's emotional development. They suggest pediatricians discuss alternative calming strategies with parents of temperamentally reactive young children.

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