SynthesisChild: care, health and development2025
Association Between Exposure to Smartphones and Tablets and Motor Development in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Child: care, health and development, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association Between Exposure to Smartphones and Tablets and Motor Development in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review.Child: care, health and development · 2025Pooled it
- Correction to "Association Between Exposure to Smartphones and Tablets and Motor Development in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review".Child: care, health and development · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThis systematic review investigated the association between smartphone/tablet exposure and motor development in children aged 0-6 years.
methodsObservational studies in Portuguese, English or Spanish were included following the Participants, Exposure, Comparison, Outcomes and Study Design. A search conducted in November 2024 across seven databases identified 3228 records. After screening titles, abstracts and full texts, seven studies met the eligibility criteria, comprising sample sizes that ranged from 25 to 715 participants, for a combined total of 1339. Exposure was assessed via parental report, considering variables such as average daily time of use, frequency and age at first exposure, although definitions varied across studies. Methodological quality was assessed using the AXIS tool, and findings were synthesised qualitatively.
resultsFindings were heterogeneous; one study reported negative associations with gross motor skills, two with fine motor skills and one with overall motor performance. Conversely, three studies indicated potential benefits for fine motor skills, and one found no significant associations. The relationship appears complex and may depend on the context, frequency and duration of use.
conclusionsThe findings underscore the importance of guiding parents, educators and healthcare providers to balance smartphone/tablet exposure with motor-enriching activities. Future longitudinal studies are needed to clarify causal pathways and the long-term effects of these exposures (PROSPERO: CRD420251008664).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.