Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, alongside restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Recent studies investigating the role of screen time in the manifestation of autistic-like symptoms suggest that excessive early digital exposure may contribute to these symptoms in children. This umbrella review systematically examined existing systematic reviews that explored the relationship between the excessive use of digital devices and autistic-like symptoms. The initial systematic search yielded 219 records. After removing duplicates, 72 articles underwent rigorous title and abstract screening, leading to the exclusion of 66 non-qualifying articles. A full-text review of the remaining 6 articles resulted in the exclusion of 3 systematic reviews that did not specifically focus on the ASD-screen time association. Consequently, the final analysis included 3 qualifying systematic reviews. The findings of this umbrella review reveal a complex and nuanced relationship between screen time and Autism Spectrum Disorder. While some studies indicate a potential association and emphasize factors such as content, context, ASD assessment measures, and screen type, others report conflicting results or find no significant correlation.