Violent Television Viewing During Preschool Is Associated With Antisocial Behavior During School Age

Christakis, Dimitri A.; Zimmerman, Frederick J.

doi:10.1542/peds.2006-3244

Cited by 129 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The findings are consistent with most of the other high-quality longitudinal studies 4,[8][9][10][11] and are internally consistent with evidence of dose-response relationships across a range of antisocial outcomes. There are also a number of plausible mechanisms for the association.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Childhood and Adolescent Television Viewing and Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood

Robertson¹,

McAnally

Hancox³

2013

Pediatrics

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WHAT IS KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Many studies have identified an association between television viewing and antisocial behavior, although very few have been able to demonstrate a cause-and-effect sequence. The issue of whether excessive television viewing contributes to antisocial behavior remains controversial. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Excessive television viewing during childhood and adolescence was associated with objective and subjective measures of antisocial behavior in adulthood. These associations were not explained by preexisting antisocial tendencies or other potential confounders. Excessive television appears to have long-term psychosocial consequences. abstract OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether excessive television viewing throughout childhood and adolescence is associated with increased antisocial behavior in early adulthood. METHODS:We assessed a birth cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972-1973, at regular intervals from birth to age 26 years. We used regression analysis to investigate the associations between television viewing hours from ages 5 to 15 years and criminal convictions, violent convictions, diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and aggressive personality traits in early adulthood. RESULTS:Young adults who had spent more time watching television during childhood and adolescence were significantly more likely to have a criminal conviction, a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and more aggressive personality traits compared with those who viewed less television. The associations were statistically significant after controlling for sex IQ, socioeconomic status, previous antisocial behavior, and parental control. The associations were similar for both sexes, indicating that the relationship between television viewing and antisocial behavior is similar for male and female viewers.CONCLUSIONS: Excessive television viewing in childhood and adolescence is associated with increased antisocial behavior in early adulthood. The findings are consistent with a causal association and support the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that children should watch no more than 1 to 2 hours of television each day.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Childhood and Adolescent Television Viewing and Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood

Robertson¹,

McAnally

Hancox³

2013

Pediatrics

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“…For example, in a cohort of individuals first assessed during middle childhood and then again in early adulthood, Huesmann et al (2003) found that even after controlling parental SES, children's academic skills, and childhood aggression, childhood TV violence viewing significantly predicted adolescent and adult aggression. Similar findings were reported by Eron et al (1972), Huesmann (1986), Viemero (1996), and Christakis and Zimmerman (2007). Anderson et al (2007) also have presented results of short-term longitudinal research showing that violent videogame playing is linked over time to increased aggression in the presence of other risk factors.…”

supporting

confidence: 81%

The Role of Violent Media Preference in Cumulative Developmental Risk for Violence and General Aggression

Boxer

Huesmann

Bushman

et al. 2008

J Youth Adolescence

102

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The impact of exposure to violence in the media on the long-term development and short-term expression of aggressive behavior has been well documented. However, gaps in this literature remain, and in particular the role of violent media exposure in shaping violent and other serious antisocial behavior has not been investigated. Further, studies of violent media effects typically have not sampled from populations with confirmed histories of violent and/or nonviolent antisocial behavior. In this study, we analyzed data on 820 youth, including 390 juvenile delinquents and 430 high school students, to examine the relation of violent media use to involvement in violence and general aggression. Using criterion scores developed through crossinformant modeling of data from self, parent/guardian, and teacher/staff reports, we observed that childhood and adolescent violent media preferences contributed significantly to the prediction of violence and general aggression from cumulative risk totals. Findings represent a new and important direction for research on the role of violent media use in the broader matrix of risk factors for youth violence. KeywordsMedia; Violence; Delinquent; Aggression; Risk Correspondence to: Paul Boxer, pboxer@rutgers.edu. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author ManuscriptOn June 24, 2008, six teenagers from Long Island, NY, launched a two hour long crime spree in which they committed a violent mugging and several break-ins and thefts before finally being caught after a carjacking attempt (Crowley 2008). According to the authorities investigating the crimes, the teenagers had determined to replicate the actions of Niko Belic, the thuggish protagonist from the new video game "Grand Theft Auto IV." Although this particular event represents an extreme example of how violence in the media can promote violence in "real life," it is wholly consistent with the fact that for decades, exposure to violent media has been acknowledged as a risk factor for aggressive and violent behavior (Anderson et al. 2003; US Surgeon General 1972).Broadly speaking, antisocial behavior in adolescence is multiply determined, with risk factors at multiple levels spanning biological, psychological, and contextual influences (Dodge et al. 2006;Frick 2006;Hoge Guerra and Boxer 2008;Huesmann and Eron 1989). Theoretical models of the development of antisocial behavior have embraced this equifinality, acknowledging the numerous ways in which different loci of risk can interact to promote habitual antisocial responses (Dodge and Pettit 2003;Frick and Morris 2004;Guerra and Huesmann 2004). Contemporary strategies for the assessment of youths' violent and nonviolent antisocial behavior involve multiple methods and multiple informants to ensure that the full spectrum of risk is covered (Borum and Verhaagen 2006;McMahon and Frick 2005). Best practice approaches to the treatment of antisocial behavior require multicomponent interventions involving the interlocking personal and contextual s...

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“…[17][18][19][22][23][24][25] The intervention framework was based on social cognitive theory [26][27][28][29] and sought to increase parental outcome expectations and self-efficacy around making healthy media choices for the child, with a specific emphasis on replacing violent or age-inappropriate content with age-appropriate educational or prosocial content.…”

Section: Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[13][14][15] Much of the existing research linking media use to child sleep problems has been crosssectional, however, raising the possibility that the causality is reversed; that is, that sleep problems are leading to increased media use, evening media use, and exposure to violent media content, rather than the other way around. Although longitudinal studies have demonstrated that early childhood media use is associated with behavioral and developmental effects years later, 8,[16][17][18][19] there is still the concern that these findings may be at least partly due to residual confounding by third factors, such as child behavior problems or household instability, that may lead to both problem media use and child sleep problems. 8,[16][17][18]20 In this article, we leverage the experimentaldesignofa randomizedcontrolled trial of healthy media use in preschoolaged children to ascertain whether changes in media use in the intervention group led to differences in child sleep between the intervention and control groups.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of a Healthy Media Use Intervention on Sleep in Preschool Children

Garrison

Christakis

2012

Pediatrics

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WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Although observational studies have consistently reported an association between media use and child sleep problems, it is unclear whether the relationship is causal or if an intervention targeting healthy media use can improve sleep in preschool-aged children. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This study demonstrates that a healthy media use intervention can improve child sleep outcomes and adds evidence that the relationship between media and sleep in preschool-aged children is indeed causal in nature. abstract BACKGROUND: Although observational studies have consistently reported an association between media use and child sleep problems, it is unclear whether the relationship is causal or if an intervention targeting healthy media use can improve sleep in preschool-aged children. METHODS:We conducted a randomized controlled trial of a healthy media use intervention in families of children aged 3 to 5 years. The intervention encouraged families to replace violent or ageinappropriate media content with quality educational and prosocial content, through an initial home visit and follow-up telephone calls over 6 months. Sleep measures were derived from the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire and were collected at 6, 12, and 18 months after baseline; repeated-measures regression analyses were used. RESULTS:Among the 565 children analyzed, the most common sleep problem was delayed sleep-onset latency (38%). Children in the intervention group had significantly lower odds of "any sleep problem" at follow-up in the repeated-measures analysis (odds ratio = 0.36; 95% confidence interval: 0.16 to 0.83), with a trend toward a decrease in intervention effect over time (P = .07). Although there was no significant effect modification detected by baseline sleep or behavior problems, gender, or low-income status, there was a trend (P = .096) toward an increased effect among those with high levels of violence exposure at baseline. CONCLUSIONS:The significant effects of a healthy media use intervention on child sleep problems in the context of a randomized controlled trial suggest that the previously reported relationship between media use and child sleep problems is indeed causal in nature. Pediatrics 2012;130:492-499 AUTHORS:

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Violent Television Viewing During Preschool Is Associated With Antisocial Behavior During School Age

Abstract: Viewing of violent programming by preschool boys is associated with subsequent aggressive behavior. Modifying the content that is viewed by young children may be warranted.

Cited by 129 publications

References 34 publications

Childhood and Adolescent Television Viewing and Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood

Childhood and Adolescent Television Viewing and Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood

The Role of Violent Media Preference in Cumulative Developmental Risk for Violence and General Aggression

The Impact of a Healthy Media Use Intervention on Sleep in Preschool Children

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