“Virtual autism” is the development of autism-like symptoms in children due to excessive exposure to digital devices and screen time. Objective: To associate the identified factors with the ASD score of the children Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used to conduct the study among 100 care givers of children accompanying them to the selected health centres, Kottayam. Non probability convenient sampling technique was used to select the samples. A self- structured questionnaire was used to collect data on factors contributing to virtual autism and Trivandrum Autism Behaviour Checklist was used to assess the ASD in children. Results: in the present study, 31 % of children were having mild to moderate autism and 2% were having severe autism. The factors such as family structure (p<0.001), occupational status of mother (p<0.001), screen time per day by the child (p<0.001), type of digital device used (p<0.05), content consumed (p<0.005), duration of parent child interaction (p<0.001) were having significant association with ASD in children. Conclusion: increased awareness regarding virtual autism is required to control the factors contributing to its occurrence in children.
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