Maternal media use and infant media exposure are associated with developmental outcomes at 4 and 8 months

Objective. Early screen exposure is associated with poorer attention, inhibitory control, and language development outcomes. However, the content and context of media exposure are better predictors of outcomes than overall amount. The present study evaluated whether infants’ digital media exposure and maternal digital media use were concurrently and longitudinally associated with infant development in 187 infants at 4 and 8 months. Design. Mothers completed a questionnaire on family media exposure in different contexts, the short form of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories, and the Developmental Profile 3. A series of multiple linear regressions was performed to investigate associations between media use and infant development in the socioemotional, communicative and cognitive domains. Results. Positive maternal strategies such as using media for educating and amusing the infant were positively associated with socioemotional development at 4 months of age; time dedicated to reading books with the infant (either electronic or paper books) and using screens to communicate were positively associated with infant communicative and socioemotional development at 8 months of age. Mothers’ overall usage of media and use of digital media during childhood routines, as well as the time infants spent daily on a device at 4 and 8 months of age, were associated with lower emerging socioemotional and communicative skills. Conclusions. Findings highlight the potentially positive and negative impacts of very early digital media exposure and could have public health significance.