Effects of Background TV on Early Development

The potential for screen media use to affect early development in both positive and negative ways has long been recognized. However, secondary exposure such as playing in the room while a parent watches television is often overlooked when considering the child's media context. This type of “background” exposure is most common during the first few years of life, occurring an average of 5.5 hours in a typical day for children under 2 years of age. Definitions of background television for young children vary considerably but often touch upon the characteristics of target audience (e.g., content designed for adults vs. children) and task prominence (e.g., play as the primary task and television as the secondary task). Although the literature on the effects of background television exposure early in life is not extensive, the methodologies employed provide convergent evidence for negative effects for several key areas of development, including toy play, parent–child interaction, and cognitive development. Given the significant amount of background television exposure experienced by young children, research described here suggests that long‐term cumulative effects throughout early childhood may be substantial.