Did you know that toddlers miss hearing up to 1,000 words a day due to time spent on screens? Well, award-winning Adelaide-based public health researcher, Dr Mary Brushe’s groundbreaking research has brought this and much more to light.
Dr. Mary Brushe—a public health researcher, advocate, and one of the winners in the 2024 South Australian Science Excellence and Innovation Awards—along with a team of researchers, has been studying how screen time is a mechanism that may be getting in the way of children experiencing a language-rich home environment during the crucial early years.
With a focus on the early years and development during this time, Dr Brushe’s research suggests that increases in screen time are often associated with decreases in exposure to adult words, child vocalisations, and back-and-forth interactions for children aged between 18 and 36 months. This means that when more time is spent on screens in this crucial age for brain development, more long-term effects might occur.
These key findings reveal that for every minute spent online, children hear seven fewer words from adults, screen time results in five fewer vocalisations, and overall significantly decreases the number of interactive exchanges and back-to-back conversations, which are crucial for language development. This ultimately hinders the development of essential language-learning skills.
The study suggests that screen time may be getting in the way of young children immersing themselves in a language-rich home environment and that interventions should be introduced to promote early language development.
Dr Brushe’s research makes it clear that the intention of the study is not to judge the hardworking parents and caregivers at home, but instead does suggest a few ways to incorporate a good balance between time spent on and off screens. Whether it’s by choosing educational shows or making the content consumed interactive, these are both good ways to actively engage kids in what they’re watching. Alternatively, turning off the TV to reduce distractions, and having set times to switch off the devices, are good ways to encourage a language-rich home environment.
Dr. Mary Brushe is an Adjunct Fellow at the University of Adelaide’s School of Public Health and a Senior Research Officer (Epidemiology) at The Kids Research Institute, and completed her PhD in Public Health in 2024, which explored early life inequalities in language development and screen time.
To read more of Dr. Brushe’s findings, click here.
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