BackgroundPrevious research has suggested that television (TV) viewing may be associated with increased behavioral and emotional problems in children. However, there are few prospective studies targeted for its association with outcomes of children under 3 years old. The purpose of this study was to exam the association between children’s early TV exposure at ages 18 and 30 months and the behavioral and emotional outcomes at age 30 months.MethodsWe analyzed data collected prospectively in the Japan Children’s Study. TV exposure was assessed by mothers’ report at infant ages of 18 and 30 months. The outcomes were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Analysis of Covariance was used to estimate the effect of TV exposure on behavioral and emotional outcomes.ResultsThe percentage of children who watched TV 4 hours or more per day was 29.4% at age 18 months, 24.5% at age 30 months, and 21% at both ages. Hyperactivity–inattention at age 30 months was positively associated with TV exposure at age 18 months, whereas prosocial behavior was negatively associated with hours of exposure even after adjustment. However, there were no significant differences in SDQ subscales according to daily hours of TV viewing at age 30 months.ConclusionsDaily TV exposure at age 18 months was associated with hyperactivity–inattention and prosocial behavior at age 30 months. However, the directly casual relation was not proved in the present study. Additional research considering the TV program content and exposure timing are needed to investigate the causal relation between TV viewing and behavioral outcome.

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BackgroundChild development integrates several interdependent domains, but few studies have attempted to identify the common factors that contribute to these different domains of development in infancy. The aim of the present study was to identify the factors that contribute to several domains of developmental attainment in 9-month-old infants.MethodsWe used data from the Japan Children’s Study, a prospective cohort study underway in Japan since 2005. Mothers completed questionnaires about their children’s temperament, coparenting behaviors, maternal parenting stress, and parenting behavior. The Kinder infant development scale was used to evaluate child development outcomes.ResultsA total of 270 children were included in this analysis. After adjusting for the children’s birth weight, gestational age, temperament, and other family environmental variables, multiple logistic regression analyses showed that greater maternal cognitive stimulation was associated with the development of receptive language, expressive language, social relationships, and feeding. Results also suggest that early supportive coparenting helped to promote development in manipulation, receptive language, and social relationships. Maternal parenting stress was stable between the infant ages of 4 and 9 months and was negatively correlated with scores for coparenting and maternal stimulation, which suggests an indirect effect of maternal parenting stress on child outcomes.ConclusionsSupportive coparenting and maternal cognitive stimulation were the most important contributors to most domains of child development. Our findings suggest that educational interventions targeting young families would help parents establish and maintain an environment of successful coparenting and cognitive stimulation as their children grow.

BackgroundLittle is known about how contributing factors of development change during early childhood in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that contributed to the developmental attainment of children between 9 and 18 months of age using prospective longitudinal data from a developmental cohort study.MethodsWe used data from observations at 3 time points (at infant age of 4, 9 and 18 months) in the Japan Children’s Study. Mothers were administered questionnaires that requested information about their child’s perinatal outcomes, temperament, family structure, family income, parental education, parenting stress, and child-rearing environment at home. At 9 and 18 months, mothers completed the Kinder Infant Development Scale to evaluate their child’s development.ResultsA total of 284 children were available for analysis. Female children and children having siblings had higher probability of attaining developmental norms at 18 months than male and only children. Birth weight, gestational age, and temperament were associated with development at 9 months, but the effects of gestational age and temperament on development disappeared at 18 months. Stimulation from the mother at 9 months was not only related to development at that age but also promoted development at 18 months.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the role of family environmental factors such as early mother’s stimulation and sibling’s existence in development during early childhood might become more important as the child gets older.