--- title: "Psych News Alert: Early Childhood Tablet Use Linked to Angry Outbursts" description: Tablet use in early childhood may promote angry outbursts and emotional dysregulation as the child grows, a study in JAMA Pediatrics has ... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/child_tablet_iStock-1132516150-4.jpg --- 8/16/24 12:00 AM # Early Childhood Tablet Use Linked to Angry Outbursts ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/08/early-childhood-tablet-use-linked-to.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/08/early-childhood-tablet-use-linked-to.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/08/early-childhood-tablet-use-linked-to.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/08/early-childhood-tablet-use-linked-to.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/08/early-childhood-tablet-use-linked-to.html) ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/child_tablet_iStock-1132516150-Jun-24-2025-07-16-32-9579-PM.jpg?width=200&height=133&name=child_tablet_iStock-1132516150-Jun-24-2025-07-16-32-9579-PM.jpg) Tablet use in early childhood may promote angry outbursts and emotional dysregulation as the child grows, a [study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2822089) in *JAMA Pediatrics* has found. Caroline Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., of the Université de Sherbrooke in Québec, and colleagues examined data from 315 children whose parents completed the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire each year from 2020 to 2022, when their children were 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years old. The parents also reported on their children’s tablet use. The children spent an average of 6.5 hours per week (0.92 hours per day) using tablets when they were 3.5 years old, 6.7 hours per week (0.95 hours per day) when they were 4.5 years old, and 7.0 hours per week (1 hour per day) when they were 5.5 years old. The researchers found that each 69-minute increase in tablet use when the children were 3.5 years old was associated with a 22% increase in expressions of anger and frustration when they were 4.5 years old. In turn, each standard deviation increase in anger and frustration at 4.5 years was associated with an increase of roughly 17 minutes in tablet use at 5.5 years. “These findings indicate that tablet use can undermine child ability to effectively manage emotions during daily routines,” the researchers wrote. “Furthermore, children who express more anger may come to elicit more digital strategies to temper outbursts.” The researchers noted prior studies that suggest children learn emotional regulation by watching parental emotional regulation and when parents engage in emotion-focused parenting such as providing emotional coaching. “More frequent child use of tablets could reduce learning opportunities afforded by these mechanisms and undermine the development of emotional regulation strategies,” they wrote. “Our study suggests that parents be sensitized that tablet use in early childhood can disrupt the ability to manage anger and frustration and lead to increased outbursts in young children,” the researchers concluded. For related information, see the *Psychiatric News* article “[Slower Development of Young Children May Be Linked to Excess Screen Time](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2019.3a41).” (Image: Getty Images/iStock/andresr) --- **Don't miss out!** To learn about newly posted articles in *Psychiatric News,* please sign up [here](https://appi.org/pnpubalert). **[Follow *Psychiatric News* on X!](https://twitter.com/PsychiatricNews)** **[Follow *Psychiatric News* on LinkedIn!](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/psychiatric-news)** [emotional regulation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/emotional-regulation), [screen time](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/screen-time) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/iStock-955491506-Jun-24-2025-06-23-37-6765-PM.jpg?height=200&name=iStock-955491506-Jun-24-2025-06-23-37-6765-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/slower-development-of-young-children.html) [development](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/development), [television](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/television), [child and adolescent psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-and-adolescent-psychiatry), [Sheri Madigan](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sheri-madigan), [media](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/media), [screen time](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/screen-time) ## [Slower Development of Young Children May Be Linked to Excess Screen Time](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/slower-development-of-young-children.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 1/28/19 12:00 AM Children aged 2 and 3 years who spend a greater amount of time watching TV or playing on a... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/01/slower-development-of-young-children.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/kids-screens-iStock-694121922_edited-Jun-24-2025-09-46-45-7776-PM.jpg?height=200&name=kids-screens-iStock-694121922_edited-Jun-24-2025-09-46-45-7776-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/03/excessive-screen-time-in-childhood.html) [children](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/children), [ABCD study](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/abcd-study), [binge eating](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/binge-eating), [International Journal of Eating Disorders](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/international-journal-of-eating-disorders), [television](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/television), [binge eating disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/binge-eating-disorder), [screen time](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/screen-time) ## [Excessive Screen Time in Childhood Linked to Binge-Eating Disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/03/excessive-screen-time-in-childhood.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 3/4/21 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/03/excessive-screen-time-in-childhood.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/woman_cannabis_iStock-1156401342-Jun-24-2025-05-40-22-7182-PM.jpg?height=200&name=woman_cannabis_iStock-1156401342-Jun-24-2025-05-40-22-7182-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/prenatal-exposure-to-cannabis-tied-to.html) [pregnancy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/pregnancy), [marijuana](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/marijuana), [aggression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/aggression), [attention](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/attention), [cannabis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cannabis) ## [Prenatal Exposure to Cannabis Tied to Aggression, Poorer Executive Function at Age 5](https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/prenatal-exposure-to-cannabis-tied-to.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 10/30/24 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/10/prenatal-exposure-to-cannabis-tied-to.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T19:19:48.674Z", "datePublished" : "2024-08-16T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Early Childhood Tablet Use Linked to Angry Outbursts", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/child_tablet_iStock-1132516150-4.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2024/08/early-childhood-tablet-use-linked-to.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```