MedicalXPress — 15 December 2021
A new study from Tel Aviv University found that interaction between mothers and their toddlers is reduced by a factor of four when the mothers use their smartphones, which might damage the toddler’s development and have far-reaching consequences. The results of the new study, which was led by Dr. Katy Borodkin of The Department of Communication Disorders at the Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions of Tel Aviv University, were published in the journal Child Development.
The experiment involved dozens of mothers of toddlers aged two to three years. The mothers were asked to perform three tasks: browse a designated Facebook page; read printed magazines; and play with the child while the smartphone and magazines were outside the room. Three components of mother-child interaction were measured: maternal linguistic input (the linguistic content conveyed to the child), conversational turns, and maternal responsiveness.
“We found that the three components of mother-child interaction were reduced by a factor of two to four relative to uninterrupted free play, both when the mother was reading printed magazines and browsing on her smartphone,” Dr Borodkin says. “In other words, the mothers talked up to four times less with their children while they were on their smartphone. Moreover, they exchanged fewer conversational turns with the toddler, provided less immediate and content-tailored responses, and more often ignored explicit child bids.”
Notably, no difference was found between browsing a smartphone and reading magazines. “However, it is clear that we use smartphones much more than any other media, so they pose a significant developmental threat. Our findings indicate an adverse impact on the foundation of child development. The consequences of inadequate mother-child interaction can be far-reaching,” Dr Borodkin concluded. The researchers believe their findings apply to fathers as well, as smartphone usage patterns are similar between men and women.