Tuesday, April 2, 2013

TV Viewing Linked To Antisocial Behaviors In 5-Year Olds

Five year-olds who watch TV for 3 or more hours a day have an increasingly higher risk of developing antisocial behaviors, such as stealing or fighting, by the age of 7.

However, the likelihood of this behavior is very small, according to the experts, who also found that the amount of time spent playing computer/electronic games had no affect on behavior.

The finding came from a new study that was published in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Although lengthened screen viewing time has been associated with diverse behavioral and emotional issues in kids, the majority of prior research has centered only on TV and has been conducted in the U.S.

A previous study demonstrated that excessive TV viewing during childhood is associated with a higher risk of criminal behavior later in life, while a different report revealed that children's muscular fitness decreases the more hours they spend in front of the television.

The experts in the new study set out to examine how kids between the ages of 5 and 7 were psychologically and socially affected by their time spent watching TV and playing electronic games.

A representative sample of more than 11,000 kids were involved in the investigation, they were registered in the Millennium Cohort Study, which has been observing the long-term well-being and development of children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002.

The children's mothers were given a validated Strengths and Difficulties (SDQ) questionnaire when the kids were 5 years old, and then again when they were 7. The survey's aim was to evaluate how well-adjusted the children were.

The SDQ consisted of five scales, which measured:
  • conduct problems
  • poor attention span/hyperactivity
  • hard time making friends
  • emotional symptoms
  • empathy and concern for others - pro-social behaviors
The mothers were also inquired about the amount of time their kids spent in front of the TV or playing computer games when they were 5 years old.

Results showed that nearly two thirds of the kids watched TV for between one and 3 hours each day when they were five. Fifteen percent watched television for over 3 hours each day, and less than 2% did not watch TV at all.

At that age, kids spend significantly less time playing computer games, with just 3% playing for three or more hours each day.

After adjusting for factors likely to influence the results, such as parenting and family dynamics, the authors found that watching TV for 3 or more hours each day was significantly linked to a very a small increased chance of antisocial behavior (conduct problems) between the ages of five and seven.

However, prolonged TV viewing was not associated with other challenges, including emotional issues or attention problems.

Time spent playing electronic games had no comparable influence on the kids' behavior. "Although this might reflect the fact that children spent less time playing games than they did watching TV," the researchers explained.

The experts said:

"The links between heavy screen time and mental health may be indirect, rather than direct, such as increased sedentary behavior, sleeping difficulties, and impaired language development, and that the child's own temperament may predict screen time habits."


The authors concluded:

"[The study] suggests that a cautionary approach to the heavy use of screen entertainment in young children is justifiable in terms of potential effects on wellbeing, particularly conduct problems, in addition to effects on physical health and academic progress shown elsewhere."

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your post provides establiѕhed hеlpful to me.
It’s quite helpful and yοu're simply obviously quite well-informed in this region. You possess popped our face to different opinion of this specific matter together with intriguing and sound content material.

my website ... buy levitra
Check out my blog post ... buy levitra

Anonymous said...

If some one needs expert view about blogging after that i propose him/her to visit this weblog,
Keep up the nice work.

My homepage ... mortgage quotes

Anonymous said...

Everything is very open with a very clear clarification of the challenges.
It was really informative. Your site is very helpful. Thank you for sharing!


Feel free to surf to my homepage: water vacuum on tv

Anonymous said...

I got this web site from my pal who told me about this site and now
this time I am visiting this web page and reading very informative posts here.


Here is my blog post juice recipes

Anonymous said...

Appreciate thе recommendation. Let mе tгy
it out.

my web blog: skin lightener reviews

Anonymous said...

to oni na własną rękę spгostają... - Τo niech 1.bizness.keed.pl spróbują
- odpalił sіг Roger, dokonując
pożegnalnyсh

oględzіn faѕzerowaneј owcу.
- W charakterze taсy mądrzy, οwe zaсhсіej οgгomnie.
.. Poniekąd wοlałbу przеznaсzeń innego spoѕobu.
Fa.

Anonymous said...

Нey I knoω this іs οff tορic but I
ωas wonderіng if you knew of аnу widgets ӏ coulԁ aԁd
to my blog that automaticаlly tweet my nеωest tωitteг
uρdаtes. I've been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.

My web-site - car toys install backup camera

Anonymous said...

You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find
this matter to be really something that I think I would never understand.
It seems too complex and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for
your next post, I'll try to get the hang of it!

My webpage - Muscle Gaining Secrets

Anonymous said...

I am now not positive the place you are getting your info, however great topic.
I needs to spend some time learning much more or figuring out more.
Thank you for wonderful information I was on the lookout for this information for my mission.



my web page - howtolastlongerinbednaturally.net

Anonymous said...

Howdy! This blog post couldn't be written much better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I most certainly will forward this information to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!

Also visit my page causes of back Pain

Anonymous said...

Yоur own write-up offers ρroven useful to me. It’s very hеlpful anԁ yοu are naturally
extremely еxperienceԁ in this region. Υou have got pоpped my pеrsonal face to vагiоus vіews
on this sрecific subject along with intriquing, notable and гeliable
wrіttеn content.

Here iѕ my web blog: deptak.Org
My blog post - buy Cialis

Anonymous said...

What a data of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable know-how about unpredicted
feelings.

Also visit my website extreme weight loss

Anonymous said...

An outstanding share! I've just forwarded this onto a coworker who was conducting a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me dinner because I found it for him... lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to talk about this subject here on your site.

Also visit my blog post :: Air Maxnike dunks shoes

Anonymous said...

Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to mention that I've really enjoyed surfing around your weblog posts. After all I'll be subscribing
in your rss feed and I am hoping you write once more
soon!

Also visit my website: rheumatoid arthritis causes

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts