NEW Oxford University research suggests existing guidance managing children’s screen time may not be as beneficial as first thought.

Earlier this year a team of researchers published a paper disputing digital device guidelines for teenagers and proposing that a moderate amount of screen time might actually boost teenage wellbeing.

Now, in a new study, published in the journal Child Development, researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute and Cardiff University conducted a similar study, assessing the impact of screen time on children aged two to five.

The team tested screen use guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Paediatrics, which proposes a limit of one to two hours per day, as good for the psychological wellbeing of young children.

Using data from 20,000 telephone interviews with parents, the authors assessed the relationship between their children’s technology use and wellbeing.

The results revealed a number of interesting findings which suggested that limiting children’s digital device use was ‘not necessarily beneficial’ for wellbeing.

Lead author Dr Andrew Pryzbylski, of the Oxford Internet Institute, said: ‘Taken together, our findings suggest that there is little or no support for the theory that digital screen use, on its own, is bad for young children’s psychological wellbeing.”