Is screen exposure beneficial or detrimental to language development in infants and toddlers? A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether screen exposure is beneficial or detrimental for early language development. A total of 28 eligible studies were synthesized to examine the correlation between screen exposure (including screen time, educational programme viewing, co-viewing, and start age of screen exposure) and language development in children aged 0–3 years. The results reported that screen time was negatively related to early language development, while co-viewing and later start age of screen exposure were positively associated with child language outcomes. The correlation between educational programme viewing and child language was non-significant. Four factors (i.e. family socio-economic status, screen type, screen exposure measure, and language outcomes measure) moderated the relationship between screen exposure and early language outcomes. The findings suggest that restricting the screen time on young children, improving the quality of screen content and context, and ensuring that children do not start using screens too early are advantageous to early language development.