Too much screen time for parents could be slowing their child's language development

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-18 01:00

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Children may develop their language skills more slowly if their parents are on their phones too much or if they own their own device at a young age, according to international research. The team asked parents of 747 children to report their child's daily screen time, whether they owned their own device, and their own daily social media use and screen time and monitored the child's language development during their early school years. The researchers say the more time parents spent on screens, the slower their child appeared to grow their vocabulary throughout the study. Children who owned a device at age 4-5 were also likely to have a smaller vocabulary, they say. The researchers say their study shows how the whole family's screen use is worth considering when it comes to child development.

News release

From: JAMA

Screen Use and Children’s Language Development From Ages 5 to 7 Years

In this cohort study, primary parent smartphone screen time was associated with slower growth in children’s receptive vocabulary, whereas children’s digital device ownership was associated with lower concurrent language performance. These findings highlight the importance of considering screen use within the broader family context when evaluating children’s language development and are potentially informative for parents and clinicians.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Oslo, Norway

Funder: This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway through Centre for Research in Special Education and Inclusion (grant holder Øistein Anmarkrud, grant 327377) and partly supported by the Research Council of Norway through its Centre of Excellence Scheme (grant holder Monica Melby-Lervåg, grant 331640).

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