Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of television (TV) viewing and bedroom TV presence on young children's sleep as measured by actigraphy. Design: Analyses of covariance were run to examine differences in sleep duration and quality among children based on the presence of TVs in their bedrooms and the amount of TV watched. Setting: Recruited in preschools in Massachusetts; recorded ambulatory (in home, environs). Participants: Participants were 470 children between 33 and 71 months of age (M = 51.02). Measurements: Children were instructed to wear an actigraph watch for 16-days. Caregivers reported demographic information, completed behavior questionnaires, and answered questions regarding their child's TV use. Results: Children who watched more TV and had TVs in their bedroom displayed significantly shorter sleep duration and worse sleep, but they also napped significantly longer in the daytime. Nonetheless, total 24-hour sleep was shorter for those who watched more TV and had TVs in their bedroom compared to those who did not have TVs in their bedrooms or watch TV frequently. Children who had TVs in their bedrooms watched TV later at night, watched more adult TV programs, and had higher negative affect than children without TVs in their bedrooms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that TV use in young children does impact sleep duration and quality as measured by actigraphy, and daytime napping does not offset these negative impacts.

When children transition to school between the ages of 4 and 6 years, they must learn to control their attention and behaviour to be successful. Concurrently, executive function (EF) is an important skill undergoing significant development in childhood. To understand changes occurring during this period, we examined the role of parenting in the development of children's EF from 4 to 6 years old. Participants were mother and child dyads (N = 151). Children completed cognitive tasks to assess overall EF at age 4 and age 6. At both time points, mothers and children completed interaction tasks which were videotaped and coded to assess various parenting dimensions. Results indicated that children with high EF at age 4 were more likely to have high EF at age 6. In addition, results suggested that higher levels of positive parenting across the transition to school promote stability of individual differences in EF. Highlights This study investigated the association between parenting and the development of children's executive function (EF) skills across the transition to school. Children's EF and mothers' parenting were assessed at age 4 and age 6. The stability of individual differences in EF was linked to positive parenting. Parenting practises may be related to the stability of individual difference in EF across the transition to school.

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