The Effect of the Use of Early Learning Apps on Social Anxiety in Preschoolers

Abstract

In recent years, the phenomenon of children using electronic devices has become prevalent. The screen time of preschoolers has exceeded the upper limit of one hour per day suggested by the WHO. Meanwhile, with the improvement of educational concept—edutainment, the formative educational apps meet the needs of “light education”, recognized by the public. Foreign studies indicated that oversupply of screen stimulation will affect brain region function, which is positively relevant to the psychological problem: social anxiety. This research adopts literature analysis. The literatures come from authentic academic websites (Google Scholar, Web of Science). The research gap is identified, and the research results are integrated according to the process of systematically collecting, screening, organizing, and interpreting. The research results indicate that the impact of educational apps on preschool children’s social anxiety mainly manifests in three aspects: impact mechanisms, the role of multiple subjects, and the role of mediating variables. Based on the above research results, the study draws the following conclusion: The use of early educational apps can cause cognitive overload in preschool children, crowd out opportunities for real social interaction, and lead to their missing the critical period for social skill development. Combined with the influence of parental upbringing behaviors, defects in app design, and the role of mediating mechanisms, these factors collectively affect the level of social anxiety in preschool children.