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Increased media exposure linked to less homework completion among schoolchildren
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SAN FRANCISCO — Children who spent more time on digital devices were less likely to finish their homework or care about their academic performance compared with children who spent less time on devices, based on data presented at the 2016 AAP National Conference and Exhibition.
“The study examined the relationship between hours of combined daily digital media exposure that is non-schoolwork-related and childhood flourishing, based on responses of parents/guardians,” Stephanie Ruest, MD, FAAP, a pediatrician at Brown University School of Public Health, told Infectious Diseases in Children.
To determine the impact of digital media use on school-aged children, Ruest and colleagues examined sample data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health focusing on children aged 6 to 17 years (n = 64,647), as well as parent reports of children’s digital media use, homework completion and childhood flourishing.
The researchers categorized digital media use in time intervals of less than 2 hours per day, less than 4 hours per day, 4 to 6 hours per day and more than 6 hours per day. After controlling for demographic and socioeconomic covariates, the researchers used multivariable logistic regression to examine parental evaluations of the frequency of homework completion (always/usually/sometimes/rarely/never).
According to study results, children who spent 4 to 6 hours viewing television and using computers, video games, tablets and smartphones had 49% [adjusted rate ratio = 0.51; (95% CI, 0.42-0.61)] lower rates of always or usually finishing their homework compared with children who used digital media less than 2 hours per day [aRR = 0.76; (95% CI, 0.64-0.9)]. Children who spent six or more hours of media use exhibited 63% lower odds of always or usually finishing their homework vs. children who spent less than 2 hours per day using media.
“It was also found that for each 2-hour increase in digital media exposure, the odds decreased for always or usually completing homework, finishing tasks that are started, showing interest in learning new things, caring about doing well in school, and staying calm when challenged,” Ruest said in an interview. “These trends remained significant regardless of the child’s age group, sex or poverty level.” – by Kate Sherrer
Reference:
Ruest S, et al. Abstract 319984. Presented at: AAP National Conference and Exhibition; Oct. 21-25, 2016; San Francisco.
Disclosure: Ruest reports no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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Alan Mendelsohn, MD
These findings are highly concerning in that nearly one-third of school-aged children had 4 hours or more of digital media exposure per day, and that the amount of exposure was significantly associated with the risk of not completing homework. Although the cross-sectional analysis (with measures of media exposure and homework completion) makes it difficult to know whether exposure caused homework to not be completed or vice versa, it is clear from this work that there are a large number of school age children at high risk for poor educational achievement. It is likely that effective strategies to reduce digital media exposure will be needed to optimize outcomes for these high-risk children.Perspective
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Gigi Chawla, MD
Any parent of a teenager intuitively knows the frustration of monitoring completion of homework on moodle sites or while kids are using online sources for research, when kids are constantly distracted by digital media or friends messaging them concurrently. These authors highlight the depth of how these distractions can impact kids’ academic success and should give parents even more impetus to set boundaries with digital media.
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