Center on Media and Child Health

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Do you subscribe to our blog or newsletters?  Follow us on Twitter or Facebook?  Use the CMCH Database of Research?  If you find these free resources helpful, consider showing your appreciation by sponsoring the CMCH team in the NSTAR Walk for Children's Hospital Boston on June 14th! 

Click here to donate to our team "Ask the Mediatrician".  You will be directed to donate to our team captain, Karen Fisher.  Money will go to support Ask the Mediatrician -- our exciting new service, launching soon, where parents can ask for advice about using media with their families.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Research Wrap-Up: May 22, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Bailey, R., Wise,W. & Bolls, P. (2009). How avatar customizability affects children's arousal and subjective presence during junk food–sponsored online video games. CyberPsychology & Behavior, ahead of print.

• The purpose of this study was to determine how children cognitively and emotionally process interactive marketing of snack food products in advergames.

Elias, N. & Lemish, D. (2009). Spinning the web of identity: The roles of the internet in the lives of immigrant adolescents. New Media Society, 11(4), 533-551.

• This article illuminates the roles of the internet in the unique intersection between adolescence and immigration. The analysis suggests that the internet provides valuable resources for personal growth and empowerment, as it helps to develop and strengthen many aspects of young immigrants' evolving identity during a critical period of social and material disadvantage, when they are engaged in settling into and adjusting to a new society.

Fielder, L., Donovan, R.J., Ouschan, R.(2009). Exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol advertising on Australian metropolitan free-to-air television. Addiction, Available Online May 12.

• This study investigated the exposure of underage youth to alcohol television advertising on metropolitan free-to-air television in the five mainland capital city markets of Australia.

Lee, L. (2009). Young American immigrant children's interpretations of popular culture: A case study of Korean girls' perspectives on royalty in Disney films. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 7(2), 200-215.

• This article explores how young Korean immigrant girls (age five to eight) living in the United States interpreted American popular culture by discussing their interpretations of Disney animated films.

Patriarca, A., Di Giuseppe, G., Albano, L., Marinelli, P. & Angelillo, I.F.(2009). Use of television, videogames, and computer among children and adolescents in Italy. BMC Public Health, 9(1),139.

• This survey determined the practices about television (video inclusive), videogames, and  computer use in children and adolescents in Italy.

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

Tweeting It Up!

CMCH has joined the world of Twitter!  Since there are so many stories about media and child health, we can't possibly blog about them all.  We're updating Twitter with the ones we can't get to, so that you can all stay fresh on what's new!  Click on the "follow" button to subscribe to our tweets.

Don't forget you can also find us on Facebook!

Research Wrap-Up: May 15, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Anderson, C.A. & Carnagey, N.L. (2009). Causal effects of violent sports video games on aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 4 May.

• This study examines the impact of excessive violence in sport video games on aggression-related variables.

Cressman, D.L.,  Callister, M., Robinson, T. & Near, C. (2009). Swearing in the cinema: An analysis of profanity in US teen-oriented movies, 1980-2006. Journal of Children and Media, 3 (2),117 -135.

• This study examines the types, frequency, and usage of profanity in movies directed at and featuring teenagers.

Lobelo, F., Dowda, M., Pfeiffer, K.A., & Pate, R.R. (2009). Electronic media exposure and its association with activity-related outcomes in female adolescents: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. J Phys Act Health, 6(2), 137-143.

• This study attempts to assess in adolescent girls the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between elevated exposure to electronic media  and activity-related outcomes such as compliance with physical activity standards or cardio-respiratory fitness.

Page, R.M &  Brewster, A. (2009). Depiction of food as having drug-like properties in televised food advertisements directed at children: Portrayals as pleasure enhancing and addictive. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 23(3), 150-157. 

• This study examines food commercials airing during children’s TV programming for portrayals of behaviors associated with substance use, violence, disrespect, and stealing.

Yan, Z.(2009). Differences in high school and college students' basic knowledge and perceived education of Internet safety: Do high school students really benefit from the Children's Internet Protection Act? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 209-217.

• This study investigates differences in basic knowledge and perceived education of Internet safety protection strategies in high school and college students.

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

Save the Dates!

Here is a list of upcoming conferences that may be of interest:

Games for Health Conference 2009, Boston, MA, June 10-12.

• The Games for Health Project presents its fifth annual conference exploring how game technologies, tradecraft, and talent can contribute to breakthroughs in health & healthcare.

Games + Learning +Society Conference 5.0, Madison, WI, June 10-12.

• This conference will feature substantive discussion and collaboration among academics, designers, and educators interested in how video games, commercial and otherwise, can enhance learning, culture, and education.

2009 NAMLE National Conference, Detroit, MI, August 1-4.

• This year's conference will host more than sixty events, including keynotes, workshops, screenings, special interest caucuses and roundtable discussions. Among the special events is the launch of the new Journal of Media Literacy Education, the Modern Media Makers (M3) production camp for high school students, and a celebration of Motown’s 50th anniversary.

American Sociological Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, August 8-11.

• This conference invites you to consider the significance of these changing and contradictory understandings of community.

International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH) 9th World Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 28-30.

• This conference will focus on exploring issues such as private lives, public issues, and global perspectives on adolescent sexual health.

Research Wrap-Up: May 8, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Hamer, M.; Stamatakis, E. & Mishra, G.(2009). Psychological distress, television viewing, and physical activity in children aged 4 to 12 years. Pediatrics, 123(5),1263-1268.

• Examines the cross-sectional association between psychological distress, television and screen entertainment time, and physical activity levels among a representative sample of children aged 4 to 12 years from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey.

Natsiopoulou, T. &  Melissa-Halikiopoulou, C. (2009).Effects of socioeconomic status on television viewing conditions of preschoolers in northern Greece. Early Child Development and Care, 179(4), 407-423.

• Identifies the effects of television (TV) on preschoolers, their TV viewing patterns and the conditions under which they watch TV, taking into consideration their different socioeconomic and regional backgrounds.

Vogel, I.; Brug, J.; van der Ploeg, C. & Raat, H. (2009). Strategies for the prevention of MP3-induced hearing loss among adolescents: Expert opinions from a Delphi study. Pediatrics, 123(5),1257-1262.

• Identifies parties involved in the prevention of MP3-induced hearing loss among adolescents and potentially effective prevention strategies and interventions.

Walsh, J.L.&  Ward, L.M. (2009). Magazine reading and involvement and young adults' sexual health knowledge, efficacy, and behaviors. J Sex Res, 1-16. Available online April 24.

• Investigates connections between magazine reading and involvement and young people's sexual health knowledge, self-efficacy, intentions, and contraception use.

Watson, S.; DeJong, P.F. & Slack, J.L. (2009). Impact of racial attitudes on consumers' evaluations of Black character advertisements: Does spokesperson skin color make a difference? Communication Research Reports, 26(2), 91-104.

• Examines high-prejudice and low-prejudice White students' responses toward dark-skinned and light-skinned Black female spokespersons in print advertisements.

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

Preventing Teen Pregnancy

Wednesday May 6 is this year's National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, sponsored by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The goal of this day is to "help teens think carefully about sex and contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the lifelong challenges of being a parent,” both through events held around the country and through an online quiz that teens can take throughout the month of May.

In the past few years, research has found that youth who experience "high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy" as their peers who are exposed to low levels. Teen pregnancies are also becoming increasingly visible in media--often without any reference to the decisions that came before or the consequences that come after.

For information that adults can use to address this issue, see Managing the Media Monster. For pregnancy-prevention information geared toward teens, visit It's Your Sex Life. It offers information on topics like types of contraception that do and don't work, information about using condoms correctly, and prevention of unintended pregnancy.

Will Technology in the Classroom Change How Kids Learn?

How and whether to use technology in K-12 classrooms is a highly debated topic. Although it is far from the norm in K-12 around the country, however, some educators are exploring the possibilities of classroom use of educational video games.

Virginia recently became the first state with a pilot program that uses Tabula Digita's video game DimensionM, both to improve student's math scores and to motivate them to learn. Recent research on this game concluded that playing it had a positive effect on student math achievement in a public high school setting.

Early this week, through a live chat on Education Week.org, Richard Van Eck, an associate professor in the instructional design and technology program at the University of North Dakota, addressed questions about when games should be explored as instructional tools, what advantages games bring to the classroom, and how to overcome obstacles that make game integration into curricula difficult. Professor Van Eck believes that digital game-based learning has the potential to be an exciting tool for educational purpose and offers a list of online resources, including k-12 games, organizations and research, and games and tools.

**Update:5/25/09** BusinessWeek listed CMCH blog Will Technology in the Classroom Change How Kids Learn? as one of the blogs which explores technology use in the classroom.