Association Between Screen Dependency and Developmental Characteristics in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Author(s)	Mr. AMEESH PRAKASH, Dr. SATISH KUMARASWAMY
Country	India
Abstract	While digital media preference is common in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), excessive screen exposure may displace critical interactive opportunities. This descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated screen dependency and its developmental correlates among 30 children with ASD (aged 2–5 years) in Delhi NCR. Chi-square analysis revealed significant associations between high screen exposure and behavioral management variables such as tantrums upon device removal (83.3%) and a preference for screens over toys (70.0%) as well as environmental constraints like reduced outdoor play (70.0%) Crucially, screen dependency was not significantly associated with core ASD developmental features, including echolalia (p = .856) and avoidant eye contact (p =.362). Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the linear relationship between overall screen dependency and speech intelligibility was not statistically significant (r = .34, p = .067). The findings suggest that screen dependency in young children with ASD is primarily linked to behavioral disruption and environmental routine imbalances rather than variations in core neurodevelopmental symptom severity.
Keywords	Autism Spectrum Disorder, screen dependency, screen time, speech intelligibility, developmental characteristics, children, Delhi NCR
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-05-25

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