AIM: To investigate the effects of touch-screen tablet use on the fine motor development of preschool children without developmental delay. METHODS: 40 children who used a touch-screen tablet more 60 minutes per week for at least 1 month received a 24-week home fine motor activity program using a touch-screen-tablet. 40 children matched for age (mean = 61.0 months) and sex who did not meet the criteria for previous tablet use received a 24-week program consisting of manual play activities. Motor performance was measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. The two-factor mixed design ANOVA was used to compare performance of the touch-screen tablet and non-touch-screen tablet groups. RESULTS: Pretest analysis showed no group differences in motor performance and pinch strength. At posttest, children in the nontouch-screen-tablet group made significantly greater changes in fine motor precision (p < 0.001), fine motor integration (p = 0.008), and manual dexterity (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Using a touch screen tablet extensively might be disadvantageous for the fine motor development of preschool children.
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Lin et al. (2017) studied this question.
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