Birth order or screen time: what strongly predicts executive function skills development in preschool children?

Chichinina, Elena; Almazova, Olga; Veraksa, Nikolay · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1512556

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Summary

This longitudinal study investigates whether birth order or screen time more strongly predicts the development of executive function (EF) skills in preschool children. While EF skills are critical for school readiness and academic achievement, research has been limited regarding how family context, specifically birth order, interacts with modern digital habits to influence these cognitive abilities. The authors aimed to address this gap by examining if active screen time, passive screen time, or birth order serves as a significant predictor for EF development over a one-year period in children from two-child families. The study included 271 children (51% boys) aged 5–6 years at baseline, recruited from municipal kindergartens in three regions of Russia. Participants were from two-child families with an age difference between siblings of no more than five years. The sample was split nearly evenly between first-born (46.9%) and second-born (53.1%) children. EF skills were assessed at two stages, one year apart, using standardized subtests from the NEPSY-II battery for verbal working memory, visual working memory, cognitive inhibition, and the Dimensional Change Card Sort for cognitive flexibility. Caregivers reported weekly active (interactive media) and passive (video watching) screen time via questionnaire. Statistical analyses included paired samples t-tests to compare screen time by birth order and general linear models to predict EF development, controlling for socioeconomic homogeneity. Results indicated that second-born children had significantly higher weekly active screen time (approximately 35 minutes daily) compared to first-born children (approximately 25 minutes daily), while passive screen time did not differ significantly between groups. Regarding EF development, birth order was the only significant predictor, specifically for verbal working memory. First-born children showed greater improvement in verbal working memory over the year than second-born children. Neither active nor passive screen time predicted the development of any EF skills, including verbal working memory, visual working memory, cognitive inhibition, or cognitive flexibility. The effect size for birth order’s impact on verbal working memory was between small and medium. The findings suggest that in two-child families, being first-born is more beneficial for the development of verbal working memory than being second-born, likely due to greater parental engagement in verbal activities and cognitive scaffolding provided to younger siblings. The lack of association between screen time and EF development may be attributed to the sample’s moderate screen usage, which remained below critical thresholds. The authors conclude that parents of second-born preschoolers should be particularly attentive to screen time recommendations, as these children may face disadvantages in verbal working memory development and are exposed to higher levels of active screen time.

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• cognitive capacity variation