Child Screen Time and Language Development Survey from Estonia

Survey data from 448 Estonian children aged 30-48 months examines associations between screen time, child-adult conversation, and language development. The dataset includes mother-reported measures of daily screen time, face-to-face talk, and language scores from the ECDI-III assessment. Author Jaan Tulviste collected the data from September 2023 to December 2024.

Use Cases

• Predict ECDI-III language scores from child screen time, child-adult talk time, age, and sex using linear regression on 448 records.
• Classify families into latent profiles (e.g., Screen-Saturated, Parent-Screen Talk-Rich) based on patterns of screen use and conversational engagement.
• Analyze the correlation coefficient (B = -0.081) between increased screen time and decreased language scores, adjusting for covariates.
• Investigate the proportion of variance (26.1%) in language outcomes explained by the full model including screen time, talk, age, and sex.

Strengths

• Data from 448 children provides a moderate sample size for statistical analysis.
• Study reports specific statistical results, including regression coefficients (B values) and confidence intervals.
• Clear temporal coverage from a recent collection period (September 2023 to December 2024).

Limitations

• Cross-sectional design with 448 rows limits causal inference and longitudinal analysis.
• Data is geographically limited to Estonia, reducing generalizability to other populations.
• Small file size (37.0 KB) indicates the dataset contains summary or analysis results, not raw survey responses.

Provenance

Source

Jaan Tulviste via figshare.

Collection Method

Mother-reported survey data for a typical weekend day, with language skills assessed using the Estonian ECDI-III.

Time Range

September 2023 to December 2024.

Freshness

Data is recent, collected through December 2024 and last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Estonia.