A new study reveals that using smart devices to distract or calm infants during tantrums may impede their healthy emotional development and make them more volatile over time.

The study, which involved 422 parents and their kids, aged 3-5, was released on Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. The study, which ran from August 2018 to January 2020 by five researchers, discovered that after three and six months, youngsters who used cell phones or tablets to calm themselves made worse decisions and grew more irate.

In response to a questionnaire, parents of males and energetic kids revealed the most pronounced decreases in executive functioning and peaks in emotional reactivity on a 5-point scale.

“Although using videos, apps, or photographs on a device may be effective in distracting or assuaging a young child’s distress at the moment, the results of this … study suggest that this practice may become a more frequent habit with more emotionally reactive children and that this may worsen their emotion-regulation skills over time,” the researchers marked.

The study's lead author, developmental-behavioral pediatrician Jenny Radesky, said that using technology to quiet a weeping or yelling youngster can promote undesirable behavior by providing a "pleasurable reward."

“Since smartphones and tablets came into our homes, parents have wondered how much to use them as a behavioral tool, and this study suggests that they’re probably not best used as in-the-moment emotion regulators,” she said as quoted by The Washington Times.

Toddlers also engaging in electronics use to calm strong emotions

The study comes in the wake of a growing body of evidence demonstrating that virtual learning during the pandemic era caused children to gain weight, fall behind academically, and experience spikes in clinical anxiety and despair.

The study released on Monday supports claims that toddlers are also engaging in "the overuse of electronics to calm strong emotions," according to the parenting expert and author from Arizona.

On its account, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned that no screen time is advised for infants under 2 and no more than one hour per day for kids aged 2 to 5.

According to Laura DeCook, the California-based founder of LDC Wellbeing, smart devices shorten children's attention spans and make it more difficult for them to focus.

“Physically, spending time on screens instead of on exercise and play can lead to issues such as childhood obesity and chronic neck and back problems,” said Ms. DeCook.

Even though the study was done before the COVID-19 outbreak, mental health experts believe that during the past two years, the harm that devices have done to children has only gotten worse.