NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Health) - Children as young as 4-1/2 years of age who spend a lot of time in front of a computer are less likely than others to be accepted by their peers, according to new research.

Researchers led by Theodore E. Gardner of the University of Oregon, Eugene, reported that children between the ages of 4-1/2 and 6 years who spent the most amount of time on a computer were significantly less likely to be accepted by other children their age, and had a harder time integrating smoothly into a group than their less technologically oriented peers.

Gardner and his co-author Jeffrey R. Measelle also found that heavy computer users were more likely to exhibit symptoms of depression than lighter users.

When asked if he thought computer use promotes social difficulties, or vice versa, Gardner told Reuters Health he thought it was likely a little bit of both.

Although the present study did not address this question, Gardner said he suspected that some kids are "temperamentally predisposed" to be attracted to computers. The more time they spend on the computer, the less "social practice" they get, which would cause them to want to spend even more time on the computer.

"My guess is that it would actually be a cyclical relationship," he said.

He and Measelle uncovered the association between children's social behavior and computer use from surveys of mothers of 120 children, including 48 boys and 72 girls. Kids who spent the least time in front of the computer averaged around 5 hours per week, while those who logged the most time spent about 19 hours weekly at the computer.

Gardner presented his findings here Friday at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting.

Along with having social difficulties, children who spent the most time in front of the computer, on average, came from more affluent families than those who logged fewer hours.

Not being accepted by your peers--even when a person is very young--can have a significant impact on peer relationships down the road, Gardner said. Kids who don't "fit in" during the years of preschool and kindergarten may have trouble being accepted for a long time afterwards. "A lot of those kids tend to not fit in for quite a while," he said.

The impact of computer use on social development is especially important now, he added, as each new generation embraces computers more than the previous one, and as video games and other technologies are being marketed specifically to young children.

"There's 2-1/2- to 3-year-olds who totally know what they want when they walk through the video game section of the store," he said.

Reference Source 89

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