Michigan: A study has shown that distracting a stubborn child with a phone can lead to behavioral problems in the future.
Giving a screaming child a digital device can quickly silence a screaming child, researchers say, but this approach has long-term problems.
A team of researchers from the University of Michigan in the United States selected 422 parents and their children between the ages of three and five for the study.
The scientists asked parents how much they used digital devices such as phones or iPads to entertain their children and whether they had observed signs of emotional or behavioral problems in the children over the past six months.
These symptoms include rapid mood swings between sadness and happiness, sudden changes in mood or feelings, and hyperactivity.
Research published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found a link between children's use of digital devices for entertainment and emotional outcomes, particularly among younger boys.
These problems also affected children who were already experiencing abnormal functioning or severe changes in behavior, causing these children to react more severely.
Instead of using phones or iPads to entertain children, parents should engage in sensory-based activities such as jumping on a trampoline, listening to rhymes or looking at books, the researchers said.
