Center on Media and Child Health

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-Jan 24

Check out these recently published titles of interest on the topics of children, media, and health:

Devís-Devís, J., Peiró-Velert, C., Beltrán-Carrillo, V.J., et al. (2012). Brief report: Association between socio-demographic factors, screen media usage and physical activity by type of day in Spanish adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35(1), 213-218. 

• The study authors found that the negative relationship between adolescents' use of screen media (TV and mobile phone) and physical  activity and its possible displacement, depending on the type of day, added useful comparable knowledge for policies promoting an  active lifestyle. 

Erentaite, R., Bergman, L.R., & Zukauskiene, R. (2012). Cross-contextual stability of bullying victimization: A person-oriented  analysis of cyber and traditional bullying experiences among adolescents. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. Available Jan 18. 

• The findings revealed that 35% of traditional bullying victims were also bullied in cyberspace. In particular, adolescents who  experienced predominantly verbal and relational bullying at school, showed a higher risk of victimization in cyberspace a year  later, while this was not observed for predominantly physical forms of traditional bullying. 

Fisoun, V., Floros, G., Siomos, K., et al. (2012). Internet addiction as an important predictor in early detection of adolescent  drug use experience-implications for research and practice. Journal of Addiction Medicine. Available Jan 5. 

• This study found that an increase in the severity of pathological Internet use has been linked to increased chances of having used  an illicit substance. 

Lin, F., Zhou, Y., Du, Y., et al. (2012). Abnormal white matter integrity in adolescents with Internet addiction disorder: A tract-based spatial statistics study. PLoS ONE, 7(1), e30253. FULL TEXT. 

• These findings suggest that Internet addiction disorder (IAD) demonstrated widespread reductions of fractional anisotropy (FA) in major white matter pathways and such abnormal white matter structure may be linked to some behavioral impairments. 

Lwin, M.O., Li, B., & Ang, R.P. (2012). Stop bugging me: An examination of adolescents’ protection behavior against online harassment. Journal of Adolescence, 35(1), 31-41. 

• The results suggest that public service programs targeted at educating youths should aim to increase coping appraisals and emphasize the severity of online harassment. Targeted educational programs could include those aimed at specific age or gender groups.

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Toolbox: CMCH Database- Advanced Search

The CMCH Database of Research (DoR) can be searched using three different tools: Advanced Search, Guided Search, and Browse by CMCH Subject. Today were are going to explore the Advanced Search function and try out an example search for violence and video games. 

• Step One: Go to the CMCH DoR Advanced Search page. Here you can enter your search criteria by typing the word(s) you’d like to search into the text boxes. You can narrow or broaden your search by connecting words using the Boolean operators OR, AND, NOT. Using the drop-down menu you can limit the fields that are searched to Subject term, Abstract, Title, Journal, Author, or Source of Funding or you can keep your search broad by choosing All fields. 

• Step Two: Searches can be limited by Age Group, Study Design, Publication Type, and Year. Simply click on the specific age group, study design, etc that you would like to limit your search to. You can choose as many or as few limits as you’d like. Also, you can limit your search to Peer-reviewed or CMCH Authors. 

• Step Three: After all your search criteria is entered click Search Now to see your results. If you have too many or too few results you can go back and revise your search to make it broader or narrower. For example if you did not get many search results try going back and taking out some the limits you put in place.  

Now let's try out a real search! 

Example: 

I’ve decided that I want to do a search about violence and video games:

1. I enter the word violence into a search box and enter video games into another search box.
2.  I change the Boolean operator to AND, so that I am doing a search for violence AND video games. 
3. I leave the drop-down menu on All fields. 

I’d like to see if there have been any peer-reviewed experimental studies done with adolescents in the last five years:

1. I select the age group limit Adolescence (13-17) and the study design limit Experimental Study.
2. I do not limit the search by Publication Type. 
3. I select the years 2007-2012 by clicking on 2007 and then holding down the computer’s control key to click on the other years. Lastly, I limit the search by Peer-reviewed studies.

 Below is a screenshot of my search criteria (click for bigger image): 

Here are the six search results I got from this search: 

• Hummer, T. A., Wang, Y., Kronenberger, W.G., et al. (2010). Short-term violent video game play by adolescents alters prefrontal activity during cognitive inhibition. Media Psychology, 13(2), 136- 154.

• Nije Bijvank, M., Konijn, E.A., Bush, B.J., & Roelofsma, P.H.M.P. (2009). Age and violent-content labels make video games forbidden fruits for youth. Pediatrics, 123(3), 870-876.

• Barlett, C., Branch, O., Rodeheffer, C. & Harris, R. (2009). How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggressive Behavior, 35, 225–236. 

• Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C.A., Yukawa, S., et al. (2009).  The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: International evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies.  Personality and  Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(6), 752-763. 

• Polman, H., de Castro, B. O. & van Aken, M. A. (2008). Experimental study of the differential effects of playing versus watching violent video games on children's aggressive behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 256–264. 

• Konijn, E. A.,  Nije Bijvank, M. & Bushman, B.  (2007). I wish I were a warrior: The role of wishful identification in the effects of violent video games on aggression in adolescent boys. Developmental Psychology, 43(4), 1038-1044.

****

Now go ahead and try out your own search! If you have any questions about the DoR  please do not hesitate to e-mail us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu. 

New Study: Systematic Review of Effective Strategies for Reducing Screen Time Among Young Children

A new systematic review by CMCH Staff Scientist Dr. Marie Evans Schmidt and other researchers looked at strategies to reduce screen time among children 12 years and younger. The authors found 47 studies that met their inclusion criteria with 29 that effectively reduced TV viewing or screen-media use.

The researchers found that the most effective studies were ones that used electronic TV monitoring devices, contingent feedback systems, and clinic-based counseling. The review also found that there are research gaps in studies that target young children and minorities, limited long-term follow-up data, and few studies that removed TVs from children’s bedrooms.

Below are some of the studies that were included in the review that can be found in the CMCH Database of Research: 

• Dennison BA, Russo TJ, Burdick PA, Jenkins PL. (2004). An intervention to reduce television viewing by preschool children. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 58, 170–176. 

• Epstein LH, Roemmich JN, Robinson JL et al. (2008). A randomized trial of the effects of reducing television viewing and computer use on body mass index in young children. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 162(3), 239–245. 

• Harrison M, Burns C, McGuinness M, Heslin J, Murphy N. (2006). Influence of a health education intervention on physical activity and screen time in primary school children: Switch Off--Get Active. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 9(5), 388–394. 

• Ni Mhurchu C, Roberts V, Maddison R et al. (2009). Effect of electronic time monitors on children’s television watching: pilot trial of a home-based intervention. Prev Medicine, 49(5), 413–417. 

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-Jan 3.

Check out these recently published titles of interest on the topics of children, media, and health:

Best, J.R. (2011). Exergaming immediately enhances children's executive function. Developmental Psychology. Available Online December 12. 

• The results extend past research by showing more precisely how physical activity influences executive function and how this effect differs from the improvements that occur with development. 

Callister, M., Coyne, S.M., Robinson, T., et al. (2012). “Three sheets to the wind”: Substance use in teen-centered film from 1980 to 2007. Addiction Research & Theory, 20(1), 30-41. 

• This study provides evidence that in the realm of teen-centered movies, the trend in substance use has been surprisingly downward across the decades.

Gopinath, B., Hardy, L.L., Baur, L.A., et al. (2011). Influence of parental history of hypertension on screen time and physical activity in young offspring. Journal of Hypertension. Available Online December 15. 

• This study found that parental hypertension influences the time that prepubertal offspring spend in both active and sedentary (television viewing, computer and videogame usage)pursuits. These findings highlight potential factors that could be addressed in the development of cardiovascular disease-preventive measures starting early in life among the offspring of hypertensive parents.

Jones, L. M., Mitchell, K.J., & Finkelhor, D. (2011). Trends in youth Internet victimization: Findings from three youth Internet safety surveys 2000–2010. The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Available Online December 15. 

• The study authors found that trends provide evidence for some optimism that protective adaptations to the online environment have been successful; however, online harassment appears to be increasing for youth, particularly girls, and may require additional mobilization.

Mazurek, M.O., Shattuck, P.T., Wagner, M., & Cooper, B.P. Prevalence and correlates of screen-based media use among youths with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Available Online December 8. 

• This study found that compared with other disability groups (speech/language impairments, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities), rates of non-social media use (television, video games) were higher among the autism spectrum disorders group, and rates of social media use were lower.

****

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Toolbox: Recently Published Books

Check out these recently published titles of interest on the topics of children, media, and health:

The Material Child: Growing up in Consumer Culture by David Buckingham

• This book provides a comprehensive critical overview of debates about children’s changing engagement with the commercial market. It moves from broad overviews of the theory and history of children’s consumption to insightful case studies of key areas such as obesity, sexualization, children’s broadcasting and education. 

Ethnographies of the Videogame: Gender, Narrative and Praxis by Helen Thornham

• This book uses the medium of the videogame to explore wider significant sociological issues around new media, interaction, identity, performance, memory and mediation. Addressing questions of how we interpret, mediate and use media texts, particularly in the face of claims about the power of new media to continuously shift the parameters of lived experience, gaming is employed as a 'tool' through which we can understand the gendered and socio-culturally constructed phenomenon of our everyday engagement with media. 

Digital Pioneers: Cultural Drivers of Future Media Culture by Sonja Kangas (ed.) Download for free!  

• This book provides an overview of the online life and values of 15–25 year olds in countries that were pioneers of digital services at the end of 1990s and describe the change that has happened within the past 10 years.

Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning by Lisa Nielsen & Willyn Webb 

• This book shows how teachers can turn cell phones into an educational opportunity instead of an annoying distraction. With a host of innovative ideas, activities, lessons, and strategies, Nielsen and Webb offer a unique way to use students' preferred method of communication in the classroom.

International Perspectives on Youth Media by JoEllen Fisherkeller (ed.) 

• This book documents and analyzes transnational research on youth media production and distribution projects both in and out of school. With comprehensive theoretical analyses, notes, and bibliographies, each chapter includes a case study, illuminating the variety and diversity of youth media projects around the world. This book also includes a chpater called "Studying Research Capabilities of Youth Media: Analyzing Children's Audiovisual Expressions about Health" by CMCH/VIA researchers Richard Chalfen and Michael Rich. 

Please let us know if you would like to see any books highlighted in the future!

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-Dec.13

Check out recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Ghaddar, S.F., Valerio, M.A., Garcia, C.M., & Hansen, L. (2012). Adolescent health literacy: The importance of credible sources for online health information. Journal of School Health, 82(1),  
28-36.

• The authors found that exposure to a credible source of online health information is associated with higher levels of health literacy. The incorporation of a credible online health information resource into school health education curricula is a promising approach for promoting health literacy.

Harris, J.L., Speers, S.E., Schwartz, M.B., & Brownell, K.D. (2011). US food company branded advergames on the Internet: Children's exposure and effects on snack consumption. Journal of Children and Media. Available Online November 30. 

• This study found that advergames encouraging healthy eating did increase fruit and vegetable consumption: however, only one website in the analysis used advergames to promote primarily healthy foods. These findings support the need for restrictions on companies' use of advergames to market nutritionally poor foods to children.

Harrison, K.,Liechty, J.M.& The STRONG Kids. (2011). US preschoolers' media exposure and dietary habits: The primacy of television and the limits of parental mediation. Journal of Children and Media. Available Online December 2.  

• The study authors found that TV viewing continued to predict intake of some HELN (high-energy, low-nutrient) foods for the 322 children whose parents limited their daily screen media exposure to 2 hours. 

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., Jones, L.M., & Wolak, J. (2011). Prevalence and characteristics of youth sexting: A national study. Pediatrics. Available Online December 5. FULL TEXT. 

• This study found that the rate of youth exposure to sexting highlights a need to provide them with information about legal consequences of sexting and advice about what to do if they receive a sexting image. 

Skatrud-Mickelson, M., Adachi-Mejia, A.M., MacKenzie, T.A., & Sutherland, L.A. (2011). Giving the wrong impression: food and beverage brand impressions delivered to youth through popular movies. Journal of Public Health (Oxf). Available Online November 10.  

• The authors conclude that movies promote billions of food and beverage impressions annually to youth. Given the public health crisis of obesity, future research should further investigate these trends, as well as the potential association of these unhealthy exposures in youth.

****

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

World AIDS Day 2011: Studies on Media and HIV/AIDS

According to United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (Unaids) there are now 34 million people living with HIV, including 3.4 million children. To celebrate World AIDS Day 2011, we selected a list of studies which evaluate the impact of sexual, HIV and AIDS media messages on children and teens’ health:

Lemal, M. & Van den Bulck, J. (2009). Exposure to semi-explicit sexual television content is related to adolescents' reduced fear of AIDS. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care, 14(6), 406-409.

• This study investigates the relationship between adolescents' frequency of watching semi-explicit sexual television content and their fear of getting AIDS.

Horner, J. R. et al. (2008). Using culture-centered qualitative formative research to design broadcast messages for HIV prevention for African American adolescents." J Health Commun, 13(4), 309-25.

• This article describes a culture-centered approach for developing messages to promote sexual risk reduction in urban African American adolescents.

Ito, K. E. et al. (2008). Let's Talk About Sex: Pilot study of an interactive CD-ROM to prevent HIV/STIS in female adolescents." AIDS Educ Prev, 20(1), 78-89.

• This study explores the effectiveness of an interactive CD-ROM developed by researchers to teach adolescent females about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

Geary, C. W. et al. (2006).  Does MTV reach an appropriate audience for HIV prevention messages? Evidence from MTV viewership data in Nepal and Brazil. J Health Commun, 11(7), 665-81.

• This study examines the audience of MTV and the concurrent teaching capabilities of MTV in relation to HIV/AIDS awareness.

Escobar-Chaves, S.L., Tortolero, S.R., Markham, C.M., Low, B.J., Eitel, P.,Thickstun, P.(2005). Impact of the media on adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors. Pediatrics, 116(1), 303-26.

• This study explores the effects of mass media on adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors.

Collins, R. L. et al. (2004). Watching sex on television predicts adolescent initiation of sexual behavior.Pediatrics, 114(3), e280-e289.

• This study explores the relationship between exposure to sex on television and adolescent sexual behavior.

 Segal, L., et al. (2002). Developing an HIV/AIDS education curriculum for "Takalani Sesame," South Africa's "Sesame Street." Early Education & Development, 13(4), 363-78.

• This study describes the process of developing an HIV/AIDS education curriculum for "Takalani Sesame," an educational media project for young South African children.

****

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-Nov. 15

Check out recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Ezendam, N.P.M., Brug,J. & Oenema, A. (2011). Evaluation of the Web-based computer-tailored FATaintPHAT intervention to promote energy balance among adolescents: Results from a school cluster randomized trial. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Available Online November 7. 

• This study found that the FATaintPHAT intervention was associated with positive short-term effects on diet but with no effects or unfavorable effects on physical activity and sedentary behavior.

Goldfield, G.S., Kenny, G.P., Hadjiyannakis,S., et al. (2011). Video game playing is independently associated with blood pressure and lipids in overweight and obese adolescents. PLoS ONE, 6(11), e26643. FULL TEXT. 

• The researchers found that playing video games was the only form of sedentary behaviour that was independently associated with increased BP and lipids.

McKetta, S. & Rich, M. (2011). The fault, dear viewer, lies not in the screens, but in ourselves: Relationships between screen media and childhood overweight/obesity. Pediatric Clinics of North America. Available Online October 17. 

• This article summarizes recent findings about associations between electronic screen media and childhood overweight/obesity, hypothesized mechanisms, and mediators. Recommendations are made for parents and clinicians.

Racine, E. F., DeBate, R.D., Gabriel, K.P., & High, R.R. (2011). The relationship between media use and psychological and physical  assets among third- to fifth-grade girls. Journal of School Health, 81(12), 749-755. 

• This study found that media use was negatively associated with self-esteem and commitment to physical activity. It may be useful for school professionals to encourage after-school programs that offer opportunities for girls to reduce sedentary pursuits and improve important psychological and physical assets.

Sisson, S. B., Broyles, S.T., Robledo, C. et al. (2011). Television viewing and variations in energy intake in adults and children in the USA. Public Health Nutrition. Available Online November 9.  

• The study authors found that TV viewing was associated with energy intake in US children and adults only in 12–18-year-old girls and men.

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Research Toolbox: Alerting Services

Overview

One of the ways librarians at CMCH keep up with the latest research on media and child health is through alerting services. Alerting services, offered through many journals and databases, allow you to keep up-to-date with the latest research within specified subject areas or through journal table of contents. You do not usually need to have a subscription to the journal or database to receive alerts, although you may need one in order to view full-text content. 

Types of Alerts

• E-mail: You can have journal table of contents, saved searches, citation alerts, and more sent to your email. 

• RSS Feed: Many journals and databases have an RSS feed option. You must have an RSS feed aggregator installed in order to use this feature. The RSS feed works like the e-mail alert, where table of contents or searches are sent to your aggregator. An RSS feed may be more manageable for people who have many alerts set up and do not want their e-mail inbox overloaded. 

Alert Examples

• Table of Contents (TOC): Many journals and databases offer TOC alerting services. Whenever a new issue of the journal is published you will be sent an email or your RSS feed will be updated. For example here at CMCH we subscribe to the Pediatrics' TOC alerts. 

• Searches/Keywords: If you want to stay current on a specific search you have performed in a database you can sign up to have the newest articles sent to you based on your search criteria. For example every week PubMed sends us the newest articles on television, magazines, cell phones, etc. The PubMed alerting service is done through My NCBI. 

For more information on alerting services check out helpful guides created by the NYU Libraries  and the Virginia Tech University Libraries.  

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-Nov.1

Check out recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Britto, M.T., Munafo,J.K., Schoettker, P.J., et al. (2011). Pilot and feasibility test of adolescent-controlled text messaging reminders. Clinical Pediatrics. Available Online October 20. 

• The study authors found that allowing teens to control the timing and content of reminder text messages may support self-management of chronic disease.

Jose, P. E., Kljakovic, M., Scheib, E., et al. (2011). The joint development of traditional bullying and victimization with cyber bullying and victimization in adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence. Available Online October 24. 

• The study results indicate that bullying and victimhood in both face-to-face and cyber-based interactions are related but not identical interpersonal dynamics.

Koordeman, R., Anschutz, D.J. & Engels, R.C.M.E. (2011). The effect of alcohol advertising on immediate alcohol consumption in college students: An experimental study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Available Online October 21. 

• This study found that viewing alcohol advertising did not lead to higher alcohol consumption in young men while watching a movie. However, replications of this study using other samples (e.g., different countries and cultures), other settings (e.g., movie theater, home), and with other designs (e.g., different movies and alcohol ads, cumulative exposure, extended exposure effects) are warranted.

Sebire, S.J., Jago, R. Gorely, T. et al. (2011). “If there wasn't the technology then I would probably be out everyday”: A qualitative study of children's strategies to reduce their screen viewing. Preventive Medicine. 53(4-5), 303-308. 

• The researchers found that children appeared open to screen-viewing reduction and identified the strategies that they may respond to best. This can inform the development of interventions designed to reduce screen-viewing.

Setliff, A.E. & Courage, M.L. (2011). Background television and infants’ allocation of their attention during toy play.Infancy, 16(6), 611-639. 

• This study found that the duration and frequency of infants’ looks to the toys and to the television indicated that regardless of age or program content, background television frequently got, but did not hold the infants’ attention. 

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.