Language Use Decreases in Young Children and Caregivers When Television is On, Study Finds

Language Use Decreases in Young Children and Caregivers When Television is On, Study Finds Seattle Children’s Institute: June 1, 2009

Exposure to audible television has implications for language acquisition and brain development.

In a new study, young children and their adult caregivers uttered fewer vocalizations, used fewer words and engaged in fewer conversations when in the presence of audible television.

The population-based study is the first of its kind completed in the home environment, guided by lead researcher Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “Audible Television and Decreased Adult Words, Infant Vocalizations, and Conversational Turns” was published in the June 2009 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

“We’ve known that television exposure during infancy is associated with language delays and attentional problems, but so far it has remained unclear why,” said Christakis. “This study is the first to demonstrate that when the television is on, there is reduced speech in the home. Infants vocalize less and their caregivers also speak to them more infrequently.”

The study looked at infants aged two months to four years old; a total of 329 children were studied. The children wore a small, business card-sized, two ounce digital recorder on random days monthly for up to two years. A specially designed vest with a chest pocket held the recorders at a specific distance from the mouth, and captured everything the child said and also heard during continuous 12 to 16 hour periods. The recorders were removed only for naps, baths, nighttime sleep and car rides. A speech identification software program processed the recorded files to analyze sounds children were exposed to in their environment, as well as the sounds and utterances they made.

Measurements in this study included adult word counts, child vocalizations, and child conversational turns, defined as verbal interactions when a child vocalizes and an adult responds to them vocally (or vice versa) within five seconds.

The study found that each hour of audible television was associated with significant reductions in child vocalizations, vocalization duration, and conversational turns. On average, each additional hour of television exposure was also associated with a decrease of 770 words the child heard from an adult during the recording session. This represented a seven percent decrease in words heard, on average. There were significant reductions in both adult female and male word counts. From 500 to 1,000 fewer adult words were spoken per hour of audible television.

“Adults typically utter approximately 941 words per hour. Our study found that adult words are almost completely eliminated when television is audible to the child,” added Christakis. “These results may explain the association between infant television exposure and delayed language development.” Christakis further adds that this may also explain attentional and cognitive delays, since it has been posed that language development is a critical component of brain development in early childhood. READ MORE !

Tips and resources for parents and caregivers:

For babies:~ Avoid TV for babies under age two.
. . . Choose activities that promote language development and brain growth such as talking, playing, reading, singing and enjoying music.

For children over age two:~ If you allow TV time, choose age-appropriate programs.
. . . Involve older children in setting guidelines for what to watch. Use guides and ratings to help, but beware of unproven claims that programs or DVDs are educational. Even cartoons produced for children can be violent or over stimulating.
~ Limit TV time to no more than two hours per day. Less is better.
~ Keep TV off during meals.
~ Set “media-free” days, and plan other fun things to do.
~ Avoid using TV as a reward.
~ Turn off TV when a chosen program is over.
~ Don’t leave TV on as background filler or while engaging in other activities.
~ When no one is actively watching, turn TV off.
~ Watch TV with your child.
. . .Talk about what you see and engage with your child about the content.
~ Keep TVs out of bedrooms.

TV Turnoff Network: Turnoff Weeks 2009

April 20th - 26th & September 20th - 26th