Children often develop language skills by talking to adults. Having conversations exposes them to more vocabulary and grammatical structures. The presence of screens, however, can disrupt this, especially if an adult is being interrupted by texts or notifications.

During the study, the researchers categorized families into low, moderate, and high screen-use groups. They found that parents and children typically fell into the same group. Children with higher screen time scored lower in both vocabulary and grammar. No type of screen use was associated with better language outcomes.

“While reading ebooks and playing some educational games may offer language learning opportunities, especially for older children, research shows that during the first years of life, the most influential factor is everyday dyadic face-to-face parent-child verbal interaction,” Tulviste added.