Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41461822›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

The effects of screen habits on attentional skills and prosocial behaviors in 6-to 36-month-old toddlers.

Estelle Gillioz, Edouard Gentaz, Fleur Lejeune

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Estelle GilliozDepartment of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Estelle.gillioz@unige.ch.
Edouard GentazDepartment of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Fleur LejeuneDepartment of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The rise of digital tools in the 21st century has significantly increased screen exposure among toddlers, raising concerns about its impact on their overall psychological development. Since attentional skills and prosocial behaviors play a key role in the development of toddlers' cognitive, emotional, and social functioning, the current research explores the links between screen habits of 6- to 36-month-old toddlers and their development of attentional skills and prosocial behaviors. For this purpose, we observed 148 toddlers, assessing their screen exposure via parental questionnaires and developmental outcomes using a variety of conventional experimental tasks. The main results showed that toddlers aged 6 to 18 months already exposed to screens exhibited fewer joint attention behaviors. However, sustained attention and prosocial behaviors of toddlers aged 19 to 36 months were significantly better in those who experienced interactive co-viewing during exposure. These results suggest that while extensive screen time can displace crucial developmental interactions and negatively impact early developmental skills, active parental involvement can mitigate these effects. Promoting balanced screen management and fostering strong family interactions are therefore essential to reduce potential developmental risks associated with screen exposure.

Indexed as

AttentionChild DevelopmentHabitsScreen TimeSocial BehaviorChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesAttentional skillsCo-viewingProsocial behaviorsScreen habitsToddlers

Identifiers

PMID41461822
PMCPMC12748634

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.