{"id":36991,"date":"2026-09-20T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=36991"},"modified":"2026-09-20T15:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T19:06:00","slug":"screen-time-children-cognitive-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/screen-time-children-cognitive-performance\/36991\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers followed 260 Finnish children for eight years expecting more screen time to signal weaker thinking skills, but by age 15 those reporting greater use actually showed better overall cognitive performance, although the study could not prove screens caused the difference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does another hour on a tablet automatically mean a child\u2019s thinking skills are slipping? An eight-year Finnish study<\/a> of 260 young people found a different pattern, with greater reported screen time linked to better overall cognitive performance in adolescence. The important catch is that the study did not show screens caused those stronger results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers at the Universities of Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 and Eastern Finland say the findings challenge the idea that screen time should be viewed only as harmful. Their interpretation shifts attention toward what children actually do with their devices, while keeping physical activity<\/a> firmly in the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following children from elementary school to adolescence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The analysis came from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children study<\/a>, better known as PANIC, and was published in Pediatric Exercise Science. It included 124 girls and 136 boys, whose average age at the eight-year follow-up was 15.8 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: A U.S. clinical trial tested a liquid painted onto toddlers\u2019 cavities for just 10 seconds without drilling, injections or sedation, and six months later it had stopped 54% of the treated decay, although the damaged part of the tooth permanently turned black<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Researchers assessed activity and sedentary behavior at the beginning, after two years, and again after eight years. A wearable Actiheart device<\/a> combined heart-rate and movement measurements, while questionnaires captured screen time and different activities. This was not continuous electronic tracking of every hour spent on a phone or computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the final visit, participants completed computerized CogState tests<\/a> covering skills including learning, attention, and working memory. Working memory<\/a> is the ability to hold information in mind while using it, much like remembering instructions while carrying out a task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the better scores actually tell us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Higher cumulative reported screen time was associated with better overall cognition in adolescence. That makes the result worth examining, but it is not the same as showing that adding an hour of gaming would improve a particular child\u2019s abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers adjusted their analysis for factors including age, sex, parental education, and a childhood reasoning score. Still, the same detailed cognitive testing was not repeated throughout childhood, limiting what the team could establish about changes over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also the question of which way the relationship runs. Children with stronger existing thinking skills, or particular home circumstances<\/a>, might use screens differently from other children. An observational association cannot fully separate those possibilities from an actual effect of screen use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A screen can hold very different activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should not regard screen time solely as harmful,\u201d said lead author Petri Jalanko, a doctoral researcher at the University of Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4. In the university\u2019s release, he encouraged parents and teachers to favor screen activities that involve active thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: A drug first developed for spinal cord injuries reduced DNA damage and brain inflammation in mice with Alzheimer\u2019s, and because it already passed a safety trial in 109 people, researchers believe it could reach patients faster<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Consider a child figuring out a digital puzzle compared with one watching a stream of autoplay videos. Both activities can register as an hour of screen time<\/a>, but they are not interchangeable experiences. The Finnish study did not establish that either activity caused the cognitive differences it observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its screen-time measure combined several uses, including television, videos, computers, video games, and mobile phones. That leaves an important question open about which activities, in which circumstances, might explain the association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise produced a more complicated picture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The activity findings were not simply a story of screens winning and exercise losing. More light-intensity physical activity was associated with better working memory among girls, while guided activity was associated with better working memory among boys, according to the university\u2019s summary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less self-reported unsupervised activity was also linked to better performance on a working-memory measure. But some exercise associations weakened after statistical correction for multiple comparisons, and device-measured activity and sedentary time showed no overall association with cognition across the full group. These are not grounds for telling children to stop playing outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measurement may help explain the mixed picture, the researchers suggest. A movement sensor can record how active someone is without revealing whether an activity involves strategy, cooperation, or other mental demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What parents can take from the findings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This study concerns cognitive test performance, not a blanket verdict on children\u2019s sleep, mood, or overall well-being. It also does not establish an ideal daily screen allowance or demonstrate that the same pattern applies to every age group. Better scores in one area do not settle every question about digital life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: South Korean women born in 1996 were about 20 centimeters taller on average than those born in 1896, the biggest gain recorded for women worldwide, and researchers say childhood nutrition and living conditions explain more than genes<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

For families, Jalanko\u2019s practical message is to balance physical activity with screen use that encourages thinking and learning<\/a>. Rather than treating every digital minute as wasted, that approach invites a closer look at the activity itself. Is a child creating, solving something, or learning, and is there still room for movement away from the device?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evidence supports asking those questions, not replacing one absolute rule with another. The press release was published on August 11, 2026, on the University of Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does another hour on a tablet automatically mean a child\u2019s thinking skills are slipping? An eight-year Finnish study of 260<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":36986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36997,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36991\/revisions\/36997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}