Tablets and Tantrums

A new study links early tablet use to more angry outbursts—and then more tablet use

Moses smashes the tablets (Carolsfeld, 1860, public domain)

If your preschool-aged child is susceptible to temper tantrums, you might want to consider pitching their tablet. Interesting new research out of the Université de Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada, has found that tablet use at age 3.5 is associated with greater outbursts of anger by age 4.5. Proneness to anger and frustration at age 4.5 is associated with more tablet use by age 5.5, suggesting a vicious cycle that is “deleterious for emotional regulation.”

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics and titled “Early-Childhood Tablet Use and Outbursts of Anger,” looked at 315 preschool-aged kids living in Nova Scotia. Parents self-reported tablet use and anger symptoms over a period of a couple years.

The children in the study used tablets for an average of 55, 57, and 60 minutes per day at ages 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5, respectively. It is worth noting that this aligns with the recommended screen time limits issued by the American Association for Pediatrics, which says that children between 2 and 5 should limit “non-educational screen time to 1 hour per weekday.” (The study looked exclusively at tablets; it did not include smartphones or any other form of screen exposure.)

According to this analysis, every 69 minutes of tablet use at 3.5 was “associated with an increase in expressions of anger and frustration on the Children's Behavior Questionnaire a year later”; and each standard deviation in anger and frustration at 4.5 was linked to 17 more minutes of tablet use by 5.5.

As explained by lead researcher Dr. Caroline Fitzpatrick:

“Our work suggests that parents should exercise caution when introducing tablets into children's routines and closely monitor usage, especially in younger preschool-age children… Parents should also avoid handing children mobile devices as a strategy for calming them, or as digital pacifiers.”

Tablets are a commonly used form of interactive screen time, which we know to be overly stimulating for kids’ developing brains. The engagement through swiping and tapping, the persistent sounds and flashing colours, and the sense of immediate gratification and control over the outcome of a game all contribute to a feeling of fun, but these same stimuli activate reward circuits in the brain that can lead to unhealthy compulsive or even addictive use.

It builds on another recent study that looked at how screens impede kids’ ability to learn emotional regulation. When they’re having a meltdown, the worst thing you can do is hand them a device to calm them down, because they fail to learn how to calm themselves without it. The device essentially “presses pause” on emotional development, distracting them from the problem until they forget about it, without ever learning how to cope with it.

This study also points out that tablets get in the way of other, much healthier activities and interactions with people. As I’ve said before, it is a basic math problem. There are only so many hours in a day, and if you sacrifice those hours to mindless scrolling, you will inevitably miss out on so much else that is good and formative in life. From the study (via MedPage Today):

“The preschool-age years represent a sensitive period for the development of emotional regulation skills. Children who spend more hours using screens may forfeit opportunities to engage in activities, such as interactions with caregivers or free play with other children that are essential for rehearsing and eventually mastering self-regulation. Children who fail to develop the ability to effectively manage outbursts of anger and frustration in particular are then likely to face poor health, academic, and psychosocial outcomes.”

In other words, if you want to compromise your child’s ability to flourish in the world, hand them a tablet. Conversely, you can help them by getting rid of it altogether, or never buying one in the first place. If there is no tablet, they will find other things to do. They can’t not.

What can you give a kid instead?

From the study: “Parents of children who are more prone to outbursts of anger and frustration should also favor activities that have been found to help build self-regulation skills like playing make-believe, book reading, and physical activity.”

I believe that advice should apply to all children, not just ones who are prone to angry outbursts. Particularly if tablet use leads to greater anger, you wouldn’t want to turn an otherwise-happy child into an angry one by assuming they can handle the interactive screen time.

Just say no. Get real, physical toys. Check out my list of ideas here. Design for offline play as much as you can. Let boredom transform into creativity. Invite friends over to play. Go places where you can ignore them while they run freely. Let them be children.  

You Might Also Like:

Phones Make Us Worse Parents
A Day in the Life of a Screen-Free Kid
An Antidote to Aimlessness

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