Smart phones, tablets, computers, even the good old TV — screens are everywhere, and kids aren’t shy about using them, to the worry of many parents.
Researchers at Tulsa's Laureate Institute for Brain Research are looking at the effects of screen time on the brain as part of their work in a nationwide, decade-long study of the adolescent brain, and they've shared results from some of their early investigations looking at 9- and 10-year-olds.
In one investigation, it appeared the brains of 9- and 10-year-olds who play a lot of video games get better at processing audio and visual information without ill effects.
"We basically showed that there was no problem with, say, symptoms of depression, anxiety, no problems with symptoms of impulsivity, and also no cognitive changes," said Dr. Martin Paulus, LIBR's scientific director and president.
A small subset of kids with mismatched brain structures, however, are more likely to experience those problems with heavy screen use.
Researchers observed a slight increase in suicidal thoughts among 9- and 10-year-olds who qualify as heavy screen users.
"But what was interesting and quite surprising to us is that the kids that engaged in relatively more social media activity — and at this age, it’s mostly texting and chatting … actually reported fewer suicidal items, and this was after controlling for a whole bunch of other variables," Paulus said.
It also appears all that screen time has a negligible role in diverting kids away from other activities.
"At this age, of course, a lot of the activity is guided by the parents. So, the kids are going to different sports or recreational activities under the guidance of their parents," Paulus said. "Obviously, that will change once the kid’s getting a little older, and obviously, also the nature of the social media interaction will change once the kids hit puberty."
LIBR is following more than 700 Tulsa kids into adulthood as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
