A research group led by Graduate Student Haruhiko Nakamura and Professor Chiharu Ota from the Department of Pediatrics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine has announced that they have clarified that reading picture books aloud positively influences children's overall development. To reach this conclusion, they analyzed data from approximately 36,000 mother-child pairs involved in the Ministry of the Environment's Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). It was confirmed that the higher the frequency of reading picture books aloud, the higher the developmental scores (ASQ-3) at age 3 across all five developmental domains. This study has obtained scientific evidence that reinforces the importance of reading aloud. The results were published on January 8 in the pediatric academic journal Pediatric Research.
It is known that infancy and early childhood are extremely important periods for cognitive, motor, and social development. Reading picture books aloud is recommended as this promotes bidirectional communication between parents and children and contributes to children's brain development. However, previous research has mainly focused on the effects on "language abilities;" the effects on development, including motor and social aspects, were unclear.
Therefore, the research group analyzed the 36,866 mother-child pairs with the complete necessary information from among the approximately 100,000 participants in the JECS.
They investigated the relationship between the "frequency of reading picture books aloud" as reported by parents and the children's developmental index ASQ-3 scores at age 3.
The ASQ-3 is a screening assessment method used worldwide to understand children's developmental progress, allowing evaluation of development across five domains through responses by caregivers.
As a result, the researchers found that the higher the frequency of reading aloud, the higher the developmental scores across all five developmental domains. The five developmental domains refer to communication (verbal communication), gross motor (large body movements such as running and jumping), fine motor (detailed movements using hands), problem-solving (such as thinking about how to use toys), and personal-social (interpersonal relationships and daily living habits).
In the communication domain in particular, scores were significantly higher in the group that "read aloud frequently (5 or more times per week)" compared with the group that "rarely read aloud."
Even in an analysis focusing on children whose ASQ-3 scores at age 1 were below the average for their age and suspected of developmental delays (not confirmed diagnoses), the group with higher read-aloud frequency had significantly higher ASQ-3 scores compared with the group with lower frequency.
Even after removing the influence of socioeconomic factors such as parents' educational background and household income, as well as time spent playing with children and media viewing time, a significant correlation was observed between read-aloud frequency and developmental level at age 3.
It was also found that in households with higher read-aloud frequency, children's TV/DVD viewing time and parents' screen time operating smartphones and other devices near children were shorter.
Journal Information
Publication: Pediatric Research
Title: Impact of shared storybook reading on child development: The Japan Environment and Children's Study
DOI: 10.1038/s41390-025-04721-7
This article has been translated by JST with permission from The Science News Ltd. (https://sci-news.co.jp/). Unauthorized reproduction of the article and photographs is prohibited.