Screen Timing That Impacts Autism in Early Childhood Education

Author(s)

Dr Iqra Naeem , Oyun Asim , Izzah Atif ,

Download Full PDF Pages: 61-75 | Views: 16 | Downloads: 5 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21762956

Volume 14 - December 2025 (12)

Abstract

The meta-analysis reviews the neurodevelopmental impacts of digital screen time on children and summarizes the 32 studies and 20,709 children. The result of the random-effects model analysis showed that excess screen exposure or the delay of the screen exposure had a strong positive correlation with neurodevelopmental delays with a pooled Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) of approximately 0.68 (95% CI:0.550.81). A high degree of heterogeneity (I² = 81.1%) was noted which might have been caused by the differences in the age groups and the measurement instruments. The overall effect is well-supported by the forest plot but indicated by the funnel plot is that the results can be biased towards the studies having significant developmental effects. Such findings demonstrate that screen time is a significant factor in cognitive and behavioral delay particularly during risky developmental stages. The study suggests more clinical practices and intervention amongst the parents to minimize such risks at the early childhood stage.

Keywords

Screen Timing, Autism, Childhood Education

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