Investigating the association between screen time and language development
Dr. Clara Moore, PGY2
Supervisor: Dr. Anne Fuller, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, McMaster University
It has been shown that high screen time in childhood is associated with lower language skills, but better quality screen use, such as viewing educational programs or co-viewing with adults, have been associated with stronger language skills. Language development is impacted by other aspects of a child’s life rather than those solely related to screen time. There continues to be a paucity of literature examining whether factors unrelated to screen time, such as those related to child’s environment, can moderate the relationship between screen time and language development.
Therefore, the objectives of this study are twofold:
1. To understand the association between screen time and language development among Canadian children under the age of 6, and,
2. To examine if protective factors unrelated to screen time such as, time spent reading to the child, degree of parent-child interaction or daycare participation, moderate this relationship
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