Parenting Journal · Volume 1 · Issue 2 · Licensed source edition
Meta-Analyzing the Impacts of Social Robots on Children’s Social and Emotional Development over Two Decades
Originally published 2026-10-04 · Journal of Intelligence
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · DOI 10.3390/jintelligence14100246 ↗
AI / system type
Mixed social robots; programmed/human-operated, with a small generative-AI subset
Child-facing evidenceExamines children or child-focused systems. Transfer to everyday family life must be assessed separately.
The AI connection
Mixed social robots; programmed/human-operated, with a small generative-AI subset. Distinguishes evidence for social-emotional outcomes from attractive claims about robot technology.
Why this reading matters
Broad synthesis of 66 studies makes small and uncertain effects interpretable without claiming GenAI superiority.
Editorial reading guide · Kindness
Do social robots actually improve children’s social and emotional development?
Distinguishes evidence for social-emotional outcomes from attractive claims about robot technology.
Study context
66 studies; 3468 child participants
Age / stage: 0–18 years
Read with three questions
- Which outcomes and robot roles were pooled?
- Were the numerical GenAI differences statistically significant between groups?
- What do short interventions leave unknown about everyday transfer?
Keep the limits in view
Heterogeneous small studies and limited GenAI evidence; only robot role was a significant moderator. Multiple dependent effects and long-term transfer require stronger methods.
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Original authorship, publication date, journal and DOI are preserved. This issue’s TRICK placement and reading questions are editorial additions, not claims made by the original authors.
Kejun Zhang; Zaipeng Zhang; Wenjia Cui; Zhen Gao; Cixian Lv; Taghreed Ali Alsudais; Xinghua Wang (2026). Meta-Analyzing the Impacts of Social Robots on Children’s Social and Emotional Development over Two Decades Journal of Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence14100246
Permissions checked against the saved article notice; repository publication notices screened 2026-11-04. This is not a new peer-review decision. The source authors and publishers are not represented as endorsing this issue.