Use of handheld devices by infants can delay speech development

By Kate Bass, B.Sc.May 5 2017

Recent research presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting indicates that the development of expressive speech is more likely to be delayed in young children who use handheld devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

Smart phones, tablets, electronic games and other handheld screens are now considered as standard accessories by the majority of families. The number of such devices continues to grow steadily in homes across the US and they have become an accepted part of everyday life. Consequently, many infants are now using handheld devices for entertainment before they are able to speak.

It is well established that increased time spent watching television can delay expressive language  in young children. However, the relationship between handheld screen time and language development in infants had not been studied. A cross-sectional study in over 1000 infants aged 6-24 months has recently assessed the effect of handheld screen time on communication.

Dr. Catherine Birken, the study's principal investigator, explained "Handheld devices are everywhere these days. While new pediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common. This is the first study to report an association between handheld screen time and increased risk of expressive language delay." ­

Researchers found that, although 70% of children assessed at the age of 18 months did not have any handheld screen time, a fifth of the infants studied used a handheld device for an average of 28 minutes each day.  The infants were assessed using the Infant Toddler Checklist (a validated questionnaire for evaluating speech development) and a score below the 10th percentile in the speech domain was considered to indicate a delay in speech development.

The results of this assessment indicated that the more time a child spent using a handheld screen, the more likely the child was to have delays in using expressive speech.  The risk of expressive speech delay increased by 49% with every 30 minutes of handheld screen time.

Handheld screen time in infants was not found to be associated with delays in the development of other types of communication, such as social interactions, body language or gestures.

Although further research is needed to fully understand the apparent link between handheld screen time during infancy and speech delay and to investigate other potential contributing factors, the current findings support a recent policy recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics to discourage any type of screen media in children younger than 18 months.