A new study finds that young children watching digital screens by themselves develop more mental struggles and behavior problems, as parents ignore them to fixate on their own devices.

The systematic analysis of 100 international studies involving 176,742 participants linked increased program watching and parents leaving televisions on in the background to poorer decision-making, language skills and academic performance in early childhood.

It also tied age-inappropriate content and caregivers distracted by screens during childcare routines to small children internalizing and externalizing bad behavior and struggling more to regulate their emotions and actions.

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On the other hand, the study found that children whose parents played digital games or used educational apps with them were more likely to build language and literacy skills through those interactions.

A team of Australian researchers published the findings Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

“Collectively, our findings support the need for a more nuanced approach beyond screen time limits by providing consistent underlying principles that families may use to make informed evidence-based decisions, to encourage healthy digital media use,” the researchers wrote.

They said the findings support American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines that encourage parents to view digital content with their children and discourage age-inappropriate content and background TV.

On top of these guidelines, the new study recommends “intentional and productive viewing” and warns parents not to become distracted themselves by text messaging during mealtime and play periods.

The study comes as public health officials have flagged a growing youth mental health crisis fueled by increased screen time since governments worldwide implemented pandemic lockdowns in March 2020.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has flagged digital devices for an increase in loneliness among children, recently called on Congress to slap a tobacco-style warning label on social media.