Parent Technology Use and its Impact on Their Children Under 5

Technology in all its forms, and likely new ones to come in the future, is here to stay and has dramatically changed the world in a relatively short amount of time. It is a given that it has impacted our entire life as we knew it, and we already know that not all of that impact is positive or healthy.

As things continue to progress, many of us find ourselves always "on," with little to no breaks from work (as I write this blog at 9:30pm!), feeling like we must respond immediately if someone contacts us, etc. even though we know ... life was never supposed to be like this, our brains and bodies were not developed to manage this.

Now that we have computers in our hands (something those of us of a certain age 😉 were told would never happen!) ... what impact might this have on our children's development?

This week's study (published in May 2025) looked at exactly that ... how does parental technology use impact key developmental aspects of a child's life, under the age of 5? It specifically lookwed cognition, prosocial behavior, attachment to their parents, internalizing and externalizing of problems, as well as the screen time in the children themselves.

We already know that the healthy development of a child depends on parental interaction, engagement, eye contact, uninterrupted time and conversations, and more. All these things are required for a child to have a healthy attachment to their parents (which impacts them for the rest of their life), emotional development, and even confidence to explore their environment.

Other research has shown that more than 70% of parents admitted to engaging with technology while playing with their children or during mealtimes with their children, and nearly 90% of parents were engaged with technology while in the presence of their child, at least once a day.

The use of technology in the presence of a child can leave a child feeling ignored or even like they have to compete with the technology to get their parent's attention.

Parents engaged with technology in the presence of their children, even as a brief interruption, does have a negative impact on their children's life, potentially long-term.

How parental technology use in the presence of children can impact their children ...

• Child more likely to do things to try to get attention from others

• Child has more negative moods, less positive moods

• Toddlers will comprehend less when their learning is interrupted (remember, they are learning all day long)

• Child may have lower cognitive functioning (like attention and executive functioning which includes ability to regulate themselves and their emotions, planning, impulse-control, and much much more)

• More likely to internalize problems

• More likely to exhibit externalizing behaviors

• More likely to have negative emotionality

• Less prosocial behaviors

• Less secure parental attachment

• More likely to have an increased screen time themselves

It is interesting that these negative impacts are the result of a parent using technolgoy in front of their child, or even brief interruptions by technology (like a social media notification, call, message, etc). Basically anything tech-related that gets in the way of a parent being fully present with their child, can have a negative impact on their development.

Some studies did find no significant association between parental technology use and infant behaviors, so there is some debate about at least some of this, and age does seem to matter.

Additionally, the effect size is considered to be small to very small, what does that mean? It means that the things listed are all statistically significant (meaning-the results are highly unlikely to be this way due to pure chance) but the significance so far is considered very small to small.

Some of the issues we are seeing may be due to the fact that technology is interrupting the parent's ability to have uninterrupted time with their child during play, meal times, conversations, etc.

Also, a parent on a device may result in the child trying to get their attention which may come out as "poor" behavior, or words or similar, the parent may very well have "...delayed, dismissive, shallow, or absent responses." Additionally, the child may be met with frustration, irritation, yelling, etc by the parent who does not want to be interrupted, all while they are interrupting their child's time with their device.

Parents being sedentary and using devices is modeling this exact behavior to their child. Both parents and children need to be up, moving around, engaging with each other, laughing, eye contact, playing, reading, and generally, fully present with each other. Parents who are modeling this behavior of being sedentary and using devices are teaching their children that technology is more important than any of the things just listed and this can easily negatively impact a child's motor skills, physical activity levels, and much more.

There is also significant concern when parents are using devices to help manage their child's difficult emotions. Using devices in this way is actually NOT helping the child, but is instead "...exacerbating later problematic media use and emotional extremes." Instead of a device, your child needs you to model the appropriate ways to manage big feelings, they need you to remain calm and lead them through it, they need you to provide scaffolding, they need YOU, their parent, not a device. If you are unsure of how to do these things, seek out mental health therapy, that is what they are there for, no shame, we are all here on this planet to learn.

It is important to understand with all of this ... we are experiencing something very new, there just is not a lot of research about the effects of technology on childhood development.

There will, naturally, be studies on "both sides" of the argument, time and repeated studies are what is needed to obtain more data, but logic in addition to this systematic review and meta-analysis says ... we need to be more present with our children.

Put the devices away, get outside, have fun, laugh, smile, giggle ... they are only little for a short time, no device needs your time more than your children and their future.

Source: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2833506

Blog sponsored by One More Step Foundation

This is not medical advice, always ask a chiropractor if chiropractic care is appropriate for you, and your preferred healthcare provider before making dietary, supplement, or lifestyle changes.