Use of screens, books and adults’ interactions on toddler’s language and motor skills: A cross-cultural study among 19 Latin American countries from different SES

Children's screen use is ubiquitous, with toddlers in particular demonstrating increases after the pandemic and negative associations with cognitive abilities. Thus, the objective of this cross-cultural study was to broaden and deepen existing results by describing Latin American toddlers' screen use and its association with parental reports of language skills, developmental milestones, and sociodemographic variables. A sample of 1878 toddlers from 12 to 48 months (M.age = 27.55, SD = 9.68, male = 933, low-SES = 945) from 19 different Latin American countries was evaluated. Parent-report measures of children's use of screens, SES, language, and developmental milestones were administered virtually or face-to-face. Results indicated that infants' screen exposure times were longer than recommended, with TV and smartphone being the most frequent screen media among them. Also, most of the screen time was shared with an adult. These results were consistent across parent-reported SES and nationality. In addition, negative and significant associations were generally found between screen time and language skills, which were in turn positively associated with shared reading times. The frequency of shared screen use with adults demonstrated positive correlations with language skills, after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Lastly, entertainment and educational content was associated with higher levels of language skills compared to music. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the importance of promoting responsible and accompanied use of screens with age-appropriate content during the first years of life across different contexts.

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Publication Details

Journal
PLoS ONE
Published
2025-02-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314569
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Child Development and Digital Technology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
26.78

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article

Use of screens, books and adults’ interactions on toddler’s language and motor skills: A cross-cultural study among 19 Latin American countries from different SES

Edson Jorge Huaire Inacio, Susana Azzollini, Rosario Spencer, Fernando García López et al.
3 citations
PLoS ONE
Child Development and Digital Technology
26.78
article

Use of screens, books and adults’ interactions on toddler’s language and motor skills: A cross-cultural study among 19 Latin American countries from different SES

Edson Jorge Huaire Inacio, Susana Azzollini, Rosario Spencer, Fernando García López, Lucas G. Gago Galvagno, Silvia Requena, Stephanie E. Miller, Juan José Giraldo-Huertas, C. Fernández, Fernando José Mena, Marcel Almendárez Lacayo, Ángel Manuel Elgier, Ángel Tabullo, C. Hernandez, Antonio Ruíz, Érika Robles Estrada, Gabriela Etchebehere, Ana Cláudia Carvalho, Pilar Rodríguez, Carmen Zambrano-Villalba, Glida Hidalgo, Perla del Carpio, Neyra J. Ochoa-Vega, Yoysy Rondón, Ada Tibisay-Echenique, Esther Angeriz, Delia Magaña de Ávila, Angela M. Herrera-Alvarez, Emmanuel Herrera-González, Olivia Morán-Núñez
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Children's screen use is ubiquitous, with toddlers in particular demonstrating increases after the pandemic and negative associations with cognitive abilities. Thus, the objective of this cross-cultural study was to broaden and deepen existing results by describing Latin American toddlers' screen use and its association with parental reports of language skills, developmental milestones, and sociodemographic variables. A sample of 1878 toddlers from 12 to 48 months (M.age = 27.55, SD = 9.68, male = 933, low-SES = 945) from 19 different Latin American countries was evaluated. Parent-report measures of children's use of screens, SES, language, and developmental milestones were administered virtually or face-to-face. Results indicated that infants' screen exposure times were longer than recommended, with TV and smartphone being the most frequent screen media among them. Also, most of the screen time was shared with an adult. These results were consistent across parent-reported SES and nationality. In addition, negative and significant associations were generally found between screen time and language skills, which were in turn positively associated with shared reading times. The frequency of shared screen use with adults demonstrated positive correlations with language skills, after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Lastly, entertainment and educational content was associated with higher levels of language skills compared to music. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the importance of promoting responsible and accompanied use of screens with age-appropriate content during the first years of life across different contexts.

PLoS ONEVol. 20(2)
Universidad de Panamá (PA), Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (BO), Universidad de Guanajuato (MX), University of Talca (CL), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), Universidad de La Sabana (CO), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (MX), Universidad de la República de Uruguay (UY), Universidad Nacional (CR), Universidad de Buenos Aires (AR), University of Havana (CU), Universidad Abierta Interamericana (AR), Universidad César Vallejo (PE), Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (AR), Libertador Experimental Pedagogical University (VE), University of Mississippi (US), Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (BR), Universidad Estatal de Milagro (EC), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León (NI), Hospital Oncológico Docente "Conrado Benítez García" (CU), Universidad Comunera (PY), Fundación Nacional para el Desarrollo (PH), Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (HN), University of El Salvador (SV), Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (GT)
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica, Universidad de Buenos Aires
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Child Development and Digital Technology
26.78
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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