The use of digital devices by young children has increased significantly in recent years and children are exposed to screens at increasingly earlier stages of development. In fact, screen-based activities take up the majority of children’s leisure time, compared to outdoor play or other screen-free activities.
The widespread use of electronic media and digital devices can influence cognition, emotions and mental health, even in adults. However, young children’s brain and cognitive processes are still plastic, making them potentially more vulnerable to strong and lasting influences.
Now, a new study by a team of researchers from Hungary and Canada has found that providing children with digital devices as ‘digital pacifiers’ to calm their tantrums can reduce their emotional expressions in the short term, but this practice can also lead to missed opportunities to teach children adaptive emotional regulation and coping strategies. The findings have been published in Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Handling tantrums: how it affects a child’s emotional development
Tantrums are a normal part of growing up, but how these outbursts of anger or frustration are handled can influence children’s emotional development. Researchers studied how using digital devices to prevent or control tantrums – a strategy known as parental digital emotional regulation – affects children’s anger management skills in the long term.
They found that children who were routinely given digital devices when having a tantrum had more difficulty regulating their emotions. The researchers also highlighted the importance of allowing children to experience negative emotions and the crucial role parents play in this process.
During the first years of life, children learn a lot about self-regulation, which are affective, mental and behavioral responses to certain situations. Some of these behaviors involve children’s ability to choose a deliberate response over an automatic one, known as effortful control, which is learned from the environment, primarily through children’s relationships with their parents.
“We often see parents using tablets or mobile phones to divert attention from a child who is upset. Children are fascinated by digital content, so this is an easy way to stop tantrums and is very effective in the short term,” explained Professor Caroline Fitzpatrick, a researcher at the Université de Sherbrooke (Canada) and lead author of the study.
When parents used digital emotional regulation more frequently, children showed worse anger and frustration management skills a year later
However, the researchers expected that this practice would have little long-term benefit. To confirm their thesis, they conducted an evaluation in 2020 and a follow-up a year later. More than 300 parents of children between the ages of two and five completed a questionnaire assessing media use by children and parents.
They found that when parents used digital emotional regulation more frequently, children showed poorer anger and frustration management skills a year later. Children who were given devices more often when experiencing negative emotions also showed less effortful control in the follow-up assessment.
Dr. Veronika Konok, first author of the study and researcher at Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary), says that “tantrums cannot be solved by digital devices” and that “children have to learn to manage their negative emotions on their own. They need the help of their parents during this learning process, not the help of a digital device.”
Helping children recognize their emotions
It is important not to avoid situations that may be frustrating for the child, the researchers said. Instead, it is recommended that parents guide their children through difficult situations, help them recognize their emotions, and teach them how to manage them.
Researchers say it is important for parents of children with anger management issues to receive support. For example, health professionals who work with families could provide information on how parents can help their children manage their emotions without giving them tablets or mobile phones.
“Based on our results, new methods of training and counseling for parents could be developed. By increasing awareness that digital devices are not appropriate tools for resolving tantrums, children’s mental health and well-being will benefit,” concludes Fitzpatrick.
