Children of distracted parents may have shorter attention spans

Parents who look at their phones or getdistracted when playing with their children may raise youngsters with short attention spans, research suggests. Psychologists said they have found the first direct connection between how long a parent pays attention to a toy and the impact this has on their child's concentration. The study, published in the journal Current Biology, has implications for how a child goes on to perform at school, they added. The experts tracked the eye movements of 36 parents and their one-year-old children by using head-mounted cameras. They did not tell parents what they were looking for in order to ensure they were as natural as possible with their children. The study, from experts at Indiana University, showed that the longer a parent, and therefore their baby, paid attention to an object while playing, the longer the baby kept paying attention to it, even after a parent stopped. The shortest attention spans in babies were among those whose parents got distracted and looked elsewhere, or sat back and did not play along. The researchers also found that parents who tried to direct play – such as by holding out toys and naming them – had children with lower...

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