L’objectif est de synthétiser les principaux résultats d’enquête de cohortes, relatifs à l’exposition aux écrans des enfants de 0 à 3 ans. Cette revue inclut les articles ayant conclu à la fois sur les déterminants de l’exposition aux écrans, et sur l’impact de l’exposition sur différentes facettes du développement de l’enfant.

Vingt études de cohorte issues de la littérature scientifique internationale ont été révisées.

Les déterminants principaux de l’exposition précoce aux écrans recensés sont liés aux conditions de vie familiales, à des caractéristiques parentales. Le niveau d’éducation des parents, le revenu des parents, la garde de l’enfant, la fratrie, l’usage des écrans par les parents, les symptômes de stress ou de dépression des parents sont associés à l’exposition des enfants aux écrans. L’exposition précoce aux écrans semble avoir un impact sur le développement cognitif, socio-émotionnel, physique, et sur l’engagement et les compétences à l’école. Les études révisées varient dans la mesure des expositions aux écrans et dans les variables de contrôle utilisées. Le manque d’interactions ou le manque d’attention du bébé aux jeux et à son corps, conséquences du temps passé devant les écrans, pourraient impacter le développement.

De futures analyses s’appuyant sur les données de cohorte, telles que la cohorte ELFE en France, permettraient de mieux individualiser l’effet des écrans sur le développement, en ajustant sur davantage de variables d’environnement.

As parents and children have more and more leisure or educational screen activities available, there is curiosity about the impact of exposure to screen content on cognitive, socioemotional, physical and behavioural development of the child. Some recent studies suggest that early exposure may have a negative impact. Studies differ in methods and sample sizes. The aim of this study is to compute results on exposure of infants to screens from recent birth cohort studies, including determinants of exposure and the impact of this exposure on development.

Based on a selection by an algorithm of research applied to PubMed and Google Scholar, birth cohort studies with a focus on determinants or consequences of early exposure of infants were included. Twenty studies from different countries were computed to do this review. Methods and results were discussed and compared.

Main determinants of early exposure to screens were linked to family living conditions and to the characteristics of the parents. Low level of education of parents, low household income, no day-care for the child, no siblings, high use of screens by parents, symptoms of stress or depression by parents, lack of outdoor equipment or few outings were associated to higher early exposure to screens. It seemed that early exposure could have an impact on cognitive development, psychosocial development, emotional development, physical development, behaviour, and on engagement and performance at school. Revised studies differed in terms of measurement of exposure and in terms of difference in control variables computed in multivariate analysis. Exposure to screens could result in decreased attention to parent-child interactions or decreased attention of the infant to his/her own body and to his/her environment which could in turn impact development.

In future studies, the way early exposure to screens is measured requires full attention. Also, controlling for socioeconomic conditions and physical and mental availability of caregivers is important to identify the impact of screens alone on the development. Future analysis of cohort analysis, such as ELFE cohort in France, could allow to individualize the effect of exposure to screens between the ages of 0 to 3, controlling for adequate environmental factors.