Children’s screen time receives much attention in the media, with guidelines and recommendations being updated on a regular basis. However, the research underpinning screen use guidelines has been criticised for not accounting for the type of screen activity young children are engaged in, who they are engaged in it with, and the content that is being accessed. Further criticisms of screen use research note that there are few studies that have established a strong causal connection between screen use and negative outcomes, particularly when other factors (e.g., family income, parental education) are accounted for, and over longer periods of time.
This one hour webinar, ‘More Than Just Screen “Time”: A New Framework for Approaching Screen Use Research with Children’, will describe a new framework for the design and analysis of screen use research, the RECIPE Framework, developed by Dr Chloé Beatty and Dr Suzanne Egan, based in Mary Immaculate College Limerick. Importantly, it also considers how elements of this framework can be used by parents, educators, and policy makers in deciding what conclusions can actually be drawn from the existing evidence-base, particularly in relation to young children. The webinar aims to contribute towards creating informed discussions on the specific role of screen use in child development.
To register for the webinar, please click below.
Webinar Chair: Dr Michelle Downes, Co-Chair of the CRN Digital Technologies Special Interest Group.
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Dr Chloé Beatty is an Assistant Lecturer in Psychology in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, where she is also a member of the Cognition, Development, and Learning research lab. Her research background is in the areas of developmental and cyberpsychology, with a particular interest in early screen use and its influence on young children’s cognitive and socio-emotional development.
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Dr. Suzanne Egan is currently co-chair of the Children's Research Network and a member of the CRN advisory committee. She is a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, and also holds postgraduate qualifications in Cognitive Science and in Statistics. Her research explores the factors that support development in young children and examines the processes involved in imagination, thinking and reasoning. Suzanne is the director of the Cognition, Development and Learning Research Lab in MIC, which focuses on the impact of various activities on early development, such as reading, screen-time and outdoor play. Recently she has been involved in the evaluation of community based intervention programmes to support language and literacy development in young children through health centres, libraries and preschools. Suzanne regularly publishes and presents her research at national and international conferences, and her research has been reported by the national and international media.