Digital technology use and associations with children's learning and social interaction: A longitudinal approach.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify distinct trajectories of children's digital technology use from ages 3 to 9 years and examine their associations with key aspects of learning and social interaction. Data were drawn from a nationally representative longitudinal cohort of children recruited at birth in 2008 and followed biennially. Latent class growth analysis was used to estimate digital technology use trajectories, and conditional regression analyses assessed associations with standardized measures of reading and attention, as well as parent-reported prosocial behavior and peer relationships. The analytic sample included 9,783 children with data on digital technology use from at least one of the four data collection waves, equally balanced by gender and predominantly identified as White Irish. Four trajectories of digital technology use were identified: stable low use (11%, N = 1,060), low increasing use (35%, N = 3,413), high decreasing use (16%, N = 1,543), and stable high use (38%, N = 3,765). Trajectories characterized by stable high or increasing use were associated with elevated peer relationship problems between ages 3 and 9, as well as lower selective attention and reading outcomes at age 9. Conversely, high decreasing use was associated with a steeper increase in prosocial behaviors across childhood. These correlational findings indicate that sustained or increasing digital technology use co-occurs with less favorable learning and social outcomes, whereas declining use co-occurs with more favorable changes in prosocial behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).