EXCESSIVE SCREEN USE AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT: LANGUAGE, SOCIAL INTERACTION, AND COGNITIVE SKILLS

Abstract

This study addresses excessive electronic screen use and its effects on child development, focusing on language, social interaction, and cognitive skills. It is a narrative literature review, descriptive and qualitative in nature, aimed at analyzing the consequences of such use based on scientific evidence retrieved from the PubMed and Virtual Health Library databases. The search, guided by descriptors combined through the Boolean operators AND and OR, initially identified twenty-five records, of which seven composed the final analyzed sample. Results showed that greater screen exposure is associated with lower language skills and greater attention difficulties, as well as a bidirectional relationship with socioemotional problems. The context of use, however, proved more decisive than its duration: educational content, co-use, and caregiver mediation were linked to more favorable outcomes, whereas background television, age-inappropriate content, and caregivers' own screen use were linked to less favorable outcomes. It is concluded that the effects of screen use in childhood depend on factors such as the child's age, content, purpose of use, and adult mediation, rather than exposure time alone, reinforcing the importance of guidance focused on qualifying use rather than merely restricting it.