Intensive early screen exposure as a causal factor for symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder: The case for «Virtual...

Intensive Early Screen Exposure (IESE) has been associated with detrimental outcomes on different variables including attention, language, emotion regulation and socialisation, some of which are central to the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ADHD and learning disorders. Following Bradford-Hill's recommendations, we argue that there is growing clinical and empirical evidence supporting a causal relationship between intensive early screen exposure (more than 4 h a day) and subsequent symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders in some possibly vulnerable younger children (less than 6 years old). Clinicians should also be aware of the existence of cases of recovery or dramatic improvement after parents accept to stop screen exposure for a few months, associated with daily moments of dyadic interaction, since this intervention has repeatedly been found to be effective with no known side-effects.