Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — It’s late.. dinner is on fire.. the phone is ringing.. and your child’s tantrum has begun.. most of the time, screens on electronic devices help calm him down a bit.
But a new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, shows that soothing a child with digital devices may lead to more problems with their emotional interaction.
The researchers looked at 422 reactions from parents and caregivers to assess how likely they were to use devices to distract their children, ages 3 and 5, and what their behavior was like over a six-month period.
According to the study, frequent use of digital devices to distract from disruptive behavior, such as temper tantrums, was associated with more emotional distress in children.
Lead study author Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, said: ‘When your child is going through a difficult emotional moment, that means they’re screaming and crying regarding something, they’re feeling frustrated, and they might hit or kick or lie on the floor. Distracting them or keeping them silent with electronic media, this study suggests, doesn’t help them in the long run.”
Radesky explained that this method does not help the child to confront and respond to his difficult feelings. Not only that, but it leads them to believe that their difficult feelings are an effective way to get what they want.
The study aligns with current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the World Health Organization, that children between the ages of 2 and 5 should have very limited viewing time, said Dr. Joyce Harrison, associate clinical professor. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
What are you doing?
Radesky recommends teaching kids how to recognize their feelings and respond to them in helpful ways.
Instead of punishing their expressions of frustration, anger or sadness with a timeout, Radesky said it might be a good idea to create a comfortable place for children to collect their feelings.
The message should be: “You’re not a bad person because of your big feelings, you just need to reset them. We all need to reset them sometimes.”
She said it can be helpful for caregivers to help children label their feelings, and to offer solutions when they respond inappropriately to those feelings.
But sometimes talking regarding emotions is too abstract for preschoolers, and in those cases Radesky recommends using colors to talk regarding emotions.
