{"id":3710,"date":"2026-01-18T01:37:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T01:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/infant-screen-time-linked-to-anxiety-slow-decision-making-in-teen-years\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T01:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T01:37:46","slug":"infant-screen-time-linked-to-anxiety-slow-decision-making-in-teen-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/infant-screen-time-linked-to-anxiety-slow-decision-making-in-teen-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Infant screen time linked to anxiety, slow decision-making in teen years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"ArticleContent\">\n<div class=\"article__below-title\">\n<div class=\" article__posted-date\">\n<p>January 16, 2026<\/p>\n<p>2 min read<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mobile-trust-box\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 offset-md-1 offset-xl-0 col-xl-12\">\n<div class=\"email-alert-button-wrapper d-none\" data-component=\"EmailTopicAlert\" data-module=\"Subspecialty Email Topic Alerts Top\" data-manage-email-link=\"\/footer\/account-information\/my-account\/email-subscriptions-and-alerts#emailAlerts\">\n  <hidden data-setting-item=\"d265901d-6d37-49c7-a8f6-c7bf19a02509\"\/><br \/>\n  <hidden data-crm-source=\"Subspecialty Topic Alert\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-button d-none\" data-topic-button=\"not-subscribed\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n      <span data-module-track-action=\"Email Alerts TOP_Click_Healio News Article\" data-module-track-label=\"Email Alerts TOP_Healio News Article\">&#13;<br \/>\n        <i class=\"fas fa-plus-circle\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n        Add topic to email alerts&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/span>&#13;\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-inner collapse u7c8529890dbe4279a292690965ea446c\">\n<div class=\"email-alert-dialogue\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n          Receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>&#13;\n        <\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-sign-up-type=\"unknown\">\n          Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn-primary\" data-loading-text=\"Loading &lt;i class=\" fa=\"\" fa-spinner=\"\" fa-spin=\"\">&#8220;&#13;<br \/>\n              data-action=&#8221;subscribe&#8221;&gt;&#13;<br \/>\n        Subscribe&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-topic-modal=\"failed\">    <strong>We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n<p><button data-dismiss=\"modal\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block\">Back to Healio<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Key takeaways:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>High infant screen time was linked to accelerated maturation of the visual cognitive control network.<\/li>\n<li>This accelerated network maturation was associated with negative cognitive and mental health outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>High levels of screen time before age 2 years were linked to slower decision-making and increased anxiety in teenage years, according to an observational cohort study published in <i>The Lancet<\/i>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarly screen exposure may matter not only for short-term behavior, but also for longer-term brain development and mental health,\u201d study author <b>Ai Peng Tan, MD, FRCR, <\/b><b>MMed<\/b><b>,<\/b> principal scientist from the Translational Neuroscience program at the A*STAR Institute for Human Development and Potential and an assistant professor at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in Singapore, told Healio.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure article__og-image\">&#13;\n    <picture>&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/psychiatry\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/01_january\/psych0126huang_graphic_01.webp?w=476\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/psychiatry\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/01_january\/psych0126huang_graphic_01.webp?w=800\" media=\"(max-width: 992px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/psychiatry\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/01_january\/psych0126huang_graphic_01.webp?w=595\" media=\"(max-width: 1200px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/psychiatry\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/01_january\/psych0126huang_graphic_01.webp?w=476\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\">&#13;<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.comhttps:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/psychiatry\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/01_january\/psych0126huang_graphic_01.webp?w=476\">&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.healio.com\/~\/media\/slack-news\/psychiatry\/misc\/infographics\/2026\/01_january\/psych0126huang_graphic_01.jpg?w=800\" alt=\"Psych0126Huang\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid\" width=\"800\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n    <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>&#13;<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">&#13;<br \/>\n      &#13;<br \/>\n    <\/figcaption>&#13;<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>The study followed 168 children, 54.2% of whom were male, enrolled in\u00a0the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes longitudinal birth cohort. <\/p>\n<p>The program enrolled women in their first trimester of pregnancy between June 2009 and December 2010 and has been following the parents and their children to examine how developmental factors shape health outcomes later in life.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers gathered data on infant screen time from parental questionnaires administered when the children were aged 1 and 2 years.<\/p>\n<p>Tan and colleagues assessed participants\u2019 brain development via diffusion MRIs at 4.5, 6 and 7.5 years, decision-making performance using the Cambridge Gambling Task at 8.5 years and anxiety symptoms using the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, 2nd Edition test, at 13 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><span><span style=\"color: blue;\">High screen time<\/span><\/span><span> as an infant predicted a steeper decline in visual-cognitive network integration between 4.5 and 7.5 years (<i>P<\/i> &lt; .0003), indicating a pattern consistent with accelerated maturation of the<\/span><span>se<\/span><span> network<\/span><span>s<\/span><span>, according to the researchers. High screen time in children aged 3 to 4 years was not associated with such <\/span><span>changes within\u00a0<\/span><span>the visual-cognitive network.<\/span><\/p>\n<p> \u201cWe might expect ongoing or cumulative exposure to matter most, but instead we saw the clearest associations during the earliest period of life,\u201d Tan said. \u201cThis reinforced the idea that infancy is a particularly sensitive window for brain development, when environmental inputs may have longer-lasting implications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The accelerated network trajectory was associated with longer deliberation times during the Cambridge Gambling Test, which in turn associated with increased anxiety at age 13 years (<i>P<\/i> = .006).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur findings &#8230; highlight early screen exposure as a potentially modifiable environmental factor that may be relevant to long-term neurodevelopment and mental health,\u201d Tan said. \u201cFor physicians, this means that conversations about media use \u2014 especially during infancy \u2014 can be a meaningful part of routine anticipatory guidance and developmental assessments, alongside discussions about sleep, nutrition and caregiver interaction,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p>Tan and colleagues acknowledged several study limitations, including that participants\u2019 decision-making and anxiety were measured at limited intervals and that the study only considered the amount of time spent on screens, and not the context or content of the screen time, as well as potentially confounding variables like parent-child interaction.<\/p>\n<p>The findings build on a 2024 study published in <i>Psychological Medicine<\/i> by the same team of researchers, which found that high infant screen time was associated with changes in the brain networks that regulate emotion, but that time spent parent-child reading could mitigate the change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn important next step is to continue following participants into adulthood to better understand how these early neural and behavioral differences translate into later mental health outcomes,\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n<h2>For more information:<\/h2>\n<p><b>Ai Peng Tan, MD, FRCR, MMed,<\/b>\u00a0can be reached at psychiatry@healio.com.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article__content--footer\">\n<p><!-- Healio AI Widget --><\/p>\n<div class=\"healio-ai-component-inline\" data-no-ads=\"true\" data-module-track-category=\"Healio AI\" data-module-track-action=\"Click\" data-module-track-label=\"Access Healio Ai from component - News_AI Component - In-Content (all devices)\">\n<div class=\"healio-ai-content\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/m3.healio.com\/~\/media\/images\/healio-ai\/healio-ai_logo.svg\" alt=\"Healio AI\" class=\"healio-ai-logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ask a clinical question<\/strong> and tap into <strong>Healio AI&#8217;s knowledge<\/strong> base.<\/p>\n<ul>&#13;<\/p>\n<li>PubMed, enrolling\/recruiting trials, guidelines<\/li>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<li>Clinical Guidance, Healio CME, FDA news<\/li>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<li>Healio&#8217;s exclusive daily news coverage of clinical data<\/li>\n<p>&#13;\n    <\/ul>\n<p>    <button class=\"healio-ai-button\" onclick=\"window.location.href=\" https:=\"\">Learn more<\/button>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"email-alert-button-wrapper d-none\" data-component=\"EmailTopicAlert\" data-module=\"Subspecialty Email Topic Alerts Top\" data-manage-email-link=\"\/footer\/account-information\/my-account\/email-subscriptions-and-alerts#emailAlerts\">\n  <hidden data-setting-item=\"d265901d-6d37-49c7-a8f6-c7bf19a02509\"\/><br \/>\n  <hidden data-crm-source=\"Subspecialty Topic Alert\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-button d-none\" data-topic-button=\"not-subscribed\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n      <span data-module-track-action=\"Email Alerts TOP_Click_Healio News Article\" data-module-track-label=\"Email Alerts TOP_Healio News Article\">&#13;<br \/>\n        <i class=\"fas fa-plus-circle\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n        Add topic to email alerts&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/span>&#13;\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"email-alert-inner collapse u7c8529890dbe4279a292690965ea446c\">\n<div class=\"email-alert-dialogue\">\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n          Receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>&#13;\n        <\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-sign-up-type=\"unknown\">\n          Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on <span data-content=\"topic-title\"\/>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn-primary\" data-loading-text=\"Loading &lt;i class=\" fa=\"\" fa-spinner=\"\" fa-spin=\"\">&#8220;&#13;<br \/>\n              data-action=&#8221;subscribe&#8221;&gt;&#13;<br \/>\n        Subscribe&#13;<br \/>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-none\" data-topic-modal=\"failed\">    <strong>We were unable to process your request. 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