Main roads
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Alone screen time can harm children’s development
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Children who averaged between 10 and 30 minutes of screen time alone had lower language skills
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This contributed to further behavioral problems and emotional problems
WEDNESDAY, April 8, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Allowing your preschooler a screen may stunt their intellectual and emotional development, a new study suggests.
Researchers have found that preschoolers and kindergarteners who have up to half an hour of unsupervised screen time per day have poorer communication skills and less vocabulary.
In turn, these language problems contribute to behavioral problems and emotional problems, the researchers report in the journal Research on the psychopathology of children and adolescents.
“Adults tend to think of screens as interesting things and may use them as convenient babysitters,” said the lead researcher. Molly Seloverdoctoral student in psychology at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
“But for preschoolers with language impairments, unsupervised screen time isn’t good—it can be an active barrier to well-being,” Selover added in a news release.
Nearly half of young children in the United States spend more than two hours a day on screens during the week, with more use on weekends, the researchers said in background notes.
For the study, researchers followed 546 4- and 5-year-old children attending 24 childcare centers in 13 Danish cities.
The researchers compared the amount of time children spent in solitary screen time with teachers’ assessments of their language ability and adjustment problems.
Research has shown that children who spend an average of 10 to 30 minutes of solitary screen time per day tend to have poorer language skills and more problems with their behavior and emotions.
The senior researcher said screen time alone is costing children Brett Laursenprofessor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University.
“Kids have a limited amount of free time in a day,” Laursen said in a news release. “Every hour a child spends alone with a device is an hour they’re not engaging in social interactions that foster language skills. It’s an hour not being spent practicing the social and emotional skills needed to build friendships.”
The problem? “Screens don’t require interaction, sharing, or dialogue—the exact skills that children with communication problems need to practice,” Laursen said.
Young children also pick up language from personal interactions, the researchers said. Video screens cannot replace children’s language and social experiences as they play and interact with their peers.
“Young children with limited language skills are already at risk for social and emotional problems,” Selover said. “There is little reason to expect that screens will help children overcome the adjustment problems that come with oral language problems, and plenty of reason to suspect that they will make things worse.”
The American Psychological Association recommends that children ages 2 to 5 limit screen time to no more than one hour per day, and that parents or caregivers participate in that time rather than screen time as caregivers, the researchers said.
“Electronic media is an integral part of the home learning environment; many children spend more time with tablets and phones than with toys, books and friends,” Selover said. “Like other risks in the home environment, solitary screen time poses unique risks for young children, who are highly vulnerable.”
The researchers urge parents to carefully monitor how their children engage with the screen.
“The findings are important because they show that a very common environmental risk — too much screen time — can worsen children’s behavior and create problems for children who are already facing developmental challenges,” Selover said.
More information
American Psychological Association more about Screen time and emotional problems in children.
Source: Florida Atlantic University, news release, April 6, 2026
What does this mean for you?
Parents should assess the amount of time their children spend with screens and limit preschoolers’ exposure to solitary screen time.
