The Impact of Screen Time on Social-emotional Reciprocity and Sensory Regulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Nadia Thahreen

The Impact of Screen Time on Social-emotional Reciprocity and Sensory Regulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Author(s)	Ms. Nadia Thahreen
Country	India
Abstract	The increasing use of digital screens among children has raised concerns regarding their potential influence on behavioural, social, emotional, and sensory functioning. These concerns may be particularly relevant for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who may experience differences in social-emotional reciprocity, attention, emotional regulation, and sensory processing. The present study, titled “The Impact of Screen Time on Social-Emotional Reciprocity and Sensory Regulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),” was undertaken to examine the relationship between children's daily screen exposure and selected areas of social-emotional and sensory functioning. The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional research design and collected responses from 103 parents/caregivers. Data were obtained using a structured questionnaire comprising demographic information, patterns of screen exposure, and items assessing areas of focus and learning, social reciprocity, and sensory and emotional regulation. Information regarding the child's age, gender, Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, daily screen exposure, and primary screen-use patterns was also collected. The study focused particularly on caregiver-reported observations of children's behaviour in relation to their screen exposure. Descriptive analysis indicated that 40.8% of the participants reported 1–2 hours of daily screen exposure, while 39.8% reported 2–4 hours, 16.5% reported 4–6 hours, and 2.9% reported less than one hour of daily screen use. The mean reported daily screen exposure was 2.57 hours in the ASD group and 2.78 hours in the non-ASD group. The difference in screen exposure between the two groups was not , t(72.1) = −0.788, p = .4335. Pearson correlation analysis indicated a moderate positive relationship between daily screen exposure and attention deficits, with r = .552 and p < .001. This finding indicates that higher reported screen exposure was associated with higher attention-deficit scores within the study sample. A comparatively weaker positive relationship was observed between daily screen exposure and social reciprocity, with r = .236 and p = .053. Although the relationship was positive, it did not reach the conventional level of statistical significance. Daily screen exposure also demonstrated a positive and relationship with sensory/emotional dysregulation, with r = .329 and p = .0061. Comparison of the ASD and non-ASD groups showed that the mean attention-deficit scores were 2.70 and 2.51, respectively. The corresponding mean scores for social reciprocity were 2.86 and 2.60, while the mean scores for sensory/emotional dysregulation were 2.83 and 2.51, respectively. The difference between the ASD and non-ASD groups for sensory/emotional dysregulation was , with p = .0092 and an effect size of Cohen's d = .57. The study suggest that, within the present sample, greater daily screen exposure was associated with higher levels of reported attention difficulties and sensory/emotional dysregulation. The relationship between screen exposure and social reciprocity was positive but comparatively weaker and did not reach statistical significance. The study also demonstrated differences between the ASD and non-ASD groups across the assessed domains, with the clearest group difference observed for sensory/emotional dy-regulation. The study highlights the importance of examining children's screen-use patterns in relation to their social-emotional and sensory functioning. At the same time, because the study used a cross-sectional design and caregiver-reported data, the study demonstrate associations rather than establishing that screen exposure directly causes changes in social-emotional reciprocity or sensory regulation. Further research using larger samples, longitudinal designs, and objective measures of screen exposure may provide greater understanding of the relationship between digital media exposure and functioning among children with ASD.
Keywords	Autism Spectrum Disorder, screen time, screen exposure, social-emotional reciprocity, sensory regulation, emotional regulation, attention, children, caregiver report.
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-10-26

View / Download PDF File

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

The Impact of Screen Time on Social-emotional Reciprocity and Sensory Regulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Share this