Professor Lisa Thorell receives a grant from Forte for a project about the relation between digital media and young children's development

Several reports have shown that screen use in infants, and also parents' use of digital media, negatively affects children's development. Despite this, Swedish statistics from the Swedish Media Agency show that almost a fifth of Swedish children watch TV or movies at least an hour a day already during their first year of life. However, some argue that we have suffered a moral panic and that the new recommendations that have just been presented by public health authorities, which mean that children under the age of 2 should not be exposed to screens at all, are impossible to follow. 

The new project will recruit mothers already during pregnancy and then follow the family over time until the child is 2 years old, investigating 1) the link between child and parent use of screens and the child's cognitive and socio-emotional development and 2) parents' attitudes towards the new the recommendations regarding screen use by young children and what obstacles there may be to implementing the recommendations in a good way in society. 

"My hope is that the project will increase our knowledge of the consequences that the early use of screens can have on young children's development. It is important that we not only focus on how much time children use screens, but also how and for what purpose screens are used in different everyday situations. There is also research that suggests that some children are extra susceptible to the potential negative effects of early screen use, but more research is needed. For those parents who want to follow the Public Health Authority's new recommendations, it is also important to know how different social institutions can support in the best way" says Lisa Thorell.