Giving children technological devices to calm them down during a tantrum doesn't improve their behaviour.
Giving children devices to stop tantrums makes their behaviour worse
A 'digital dummy' is a common tactic used by parents to pacify their offspring but experts have warned that it can prevent youngsters from learning how to manage their emotions and other "severe emotion regulation problems".
265 under-fives were monitored in a study and those who were calmed with digital devices such as iPads had worse emotional control a year on.
Dr. Veronika Konok, author of the study at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, said: "Tantrums cannot be cured by digital devices.
"Children have to learn how to manage their negative emotions for themselves.
"We show that if a parent regularly offers a digital device to their child to calm them or stop a tantrum, the child won't learn.
"This leads to more severe emotion regulation problems, specifically anger management problems, later in life.
"They need the help of their parents during this learning process, not the help of a digital device."