Center on Media and Child Health

Research Toolbox: Grant Funding Resources

Looking for grant funding resources to support your research projects? Here's a list of resources to help you secure funding for your research:

• Grants.gov

 The single access point for over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies.

• Grants for non-profits: Children and Youth by Michigan State University Libraries

A compilation of web pages and books of potential interest to nonprofit organizations seeking funding opportunities related to children and youth.

• National Institute of Child Health and Development

This is the website lists Active Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for all NICHD.

• U.S. Department of Education Grant Opportunities

The portal for all FY 2009-2010 Discretionary Grant Application Packages currently open

• Nonprofit Funding Newsletter and Current Awareness Services by Michigan State University Libraries

List of resources to keep you current about new RFPs and grants availability.

We want to know what YOU want to know!

If you haven't seen it yet, we are now offering a free service called Ask the Mediatrician.  CMCH Director Dr. Michael Rich (pediatrician, parent, and former filmmaker) answers questions about media and kids' health. 

We want to know what YOU want to know!  Send your question to cmch@childrens.harvard.edu today!

Here are some recent questions:

• Is it OK to use cartoons to keep my 5-month-old busy while I do things around the house?
• Which computer games are good for my 2 year old?
• Why do different kids respond differently to media violence?

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-September 25, 2009

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

Jennings, N.A., Hooker, S.D. & Linebarger, D.L. (2009). Educational television as mediated literacy environments for preschoolers. Learning, Media and Technology, (34)3, 229-242.

• This study describes the production techniques of Between the Lions that contributed to preschooler's two interdependent sets of skills involved in literacy acquisition, outside-in and the inside-out.

Lee, L. (2009). American immigrant girls' understanding of female body image in Disney: a critical analysis of young Korean girls' perspectives. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, (17)3, 363 -375.

• This paper discusses young Korean immigrant girls' understanding of American popular culture in a small-scale qualitative study in order to disclose young American immigrant girls' perspectives on such culture.

Kelly, B., Chapman, K., Hardy, L.L., King, L., & Farrell, L. (2009). Parental awareness and attitudes of food marketing to children: A community attitudes survey of parents in New South Wales, Australia.  Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 45(9), 493-497.

• This study aims to determine parents' attitudes and awareness of food marketing to children.

Morgenstern, M., Sargent, J.S. & Hanewinkel, R. (2009). Relation between socioeconomic status and body mass index: Evidence of an indirect path via television use. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 163(8), 731-738.

• This study aims to test the hypothesis that media use mediates the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and body mass index (BMI).

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, (13)9,139.

• 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.

Research Toolbox: Recently Published Books

Here is a list of recently published titles of interest on the topics of children, media, and health:

• Examining Identity in Sports Media by Heather L. Hundley and Andrew C. Billings (2009)

This book investigates how various identity groups are framed, treated, affected, and shaped by a ubiquitous sports media, including television, magazines, film, the Internet, and newspapers.

• Influences of Mediated Violence. A Brief Research Summary by Cecilia von Feilitzen (2009)

The author has attempted to address the impact of mediated violence, with particular emphasis on the influence of video and computer game violence and violence on the internet.

• Media and Youth: A Developmental Perspective by Steven J. Kirsh (2009)

This book provides a comprehensive review and critique of the research and theoretical literature related to media effects on infants, children, and adolescents, with a unique emphasis on development.

• Seeing Stars: Spectacle, Society and Celebrity Culture by Pramod K Nayar (2009)

This book explores the ways in which celebrities are ‘manufactured’, how they establish their hold on the public imagination, and how social responses enable them to be what they are.

• Young People in the European Digital Media Landscape. A Statistical Overview introduced by Sonia Livingstone and Leslie Haddon (2009) FREE

This booklet of data gives an overview of young people’s media use in Europe. 

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

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-September 18, 2009

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

Costello,  M.C., Reeder, S.,& Frain, M. (2009).The Relationship between body mass index and breakfast consumption, blood pressure, television viewing, and physical activity in African American and Asian American inner city children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(9), Supplement 1, A94.

• The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI), breakfast consumption, blood pressure (BP), physical activity, hours of television viewing, in
  low income Asian America and African American (AA) children.

Hastings, E.C., Karas, T.L., Winsler, A., Wa,y E., Madigan, A., & Tyler, S. (2009). Young children's video/computer game use: Relations with school performance and behavior. Issues Ment Health Nurs.30(10), 638-49.

• This study examined the amount and content of children's video game playing in relation with behavioral and academic outcomes.

Kirkorian, H.L., Pempek, T.A., Murphy, L.A., Schmidt,  M.E. & Anderson, D.R.(2009).The impact of background television on parent–child interaction. Child Development, 80(5), 1350-1359.

• This study investigated the hypothesis that background television affects interactions between parents and very young children.

Roseberry, S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Parish-Morris, J.,  & Golinkoff, R.M. (2009). Live action: Can young children learn verbs from video? Child Development, 80(5), 1360-1375.

• These three studies of 96 children aged 30–42 months investigated their ability to learn verbs from video.

Taveras, E.M., Hohman, K.H., Price, Gortmaker, S.L., & Sonneville, K. (2009).Televisions in the bedrooms of racial/ethnic minority children: How did they get there and how do we get them out? Clin Pediatr 48(7), 715-719.

• This study described the prevalence of TVs in the bedrooms of an urban, largely racial/ethnic minority population of children and parents’ reasons for putting the TV in their child’s room. 

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

Research Toolbox: Methodspace-Online Community for Research Methods

Check out this new resource from Sage!

Methodspace is an online forum, where the Research Methods community from across the world can exchange ideas, ask questions, and keep track on the latest books and journal articles. You need to sign-up to add a post blog or to start a discussion.

Here is a sample of what you can do:

• connect with other researchers,
• discuss methodology issues and controversies,
• find relevant conferences and events,
• discover and review new resources,
• access free books chapters and journal articles, and
• share and solve methodology problems.

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-September 11, 2009

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

Granicacute, A., Cacuteukuscaronicacute, M., Walker, R. (2009). mLearning in a Europe-wide network of schools. Educational Media International, 46 (3),167-184.

• This paper presents a European Community supported project which investigated whether the use of electronic and mobile technologies in the hands of young learners might engage them in learning activities and start to change their attitudes towards learning.

Mhurchu, C.L. et al. (2009). Effect of electronic time monitors on children's television watching: Pilot trial of a home-based intervention. Preventive Medicine, Available online 8 September.

• This pilot study evaluated the feasibility (recruitment, retention, and acceptability) and preliminary efficacy of a six-week home-based electronic time monitor intervention on New Zealand children's television watching.

Ohannessian, C.M. (2009). Media use and adolescent psychological adjustment: An examination of gender differences. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(5), 582-593.

• This study examined media use and psychological adjustment (depression and anxiety) in a sample of 328 14- to 16-year-old adolescents.

Primack, B.A., Sidani, J., Carroll. M.V., Fine. M. J.(2009). Associations between smoking and media literacy in college students. Journal of Health Communication, 14(6), 541-555.

• The purpose of this study was to determine the association between smoking and smoking media literacy among college students.

Schooler, D., Sorsoli, C.L., Kim, J.L. & Tolman, D.L. (2009). Beyond exposure: A person-oriented approach to adolescent media diets. Journal of Research on Adolescence,19(3), 484-508.

• The present investigation examines the ways in which adolescents select and organize their television viewing.

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

Research Toolbox: Sage Free Online Trial- Special Education Journals

Sage is currently offering free, full-access trial period to 20 peer-reviewed in Special Education journals. The trial period is September 1-October 31, 2009.

Registration only takes a minute, and once completed you will have access to hundreds of articles for free. Visit the journals website to browse the abstracts, perform searches, and sign-up for new issue alerts.

Take a look at these titles which explore issues in education, literacy, and children's learning outcomes.

• Topics in Early Childhood Education
• Journal of Learning Disabilities
• Young Exceptional Children
• Journal of Early Intervention
• The Journal of Special Education

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-September 4, 2009

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

Anschutz, D.J., Engels, R.C., Becker, E.S., Van Strien, T. (2009). The effects of TV commercials using less thin models on young women's mood, body image and actual food intake. Body Image, Available Online August 19.

• This study tested the effects of exposure to television commercials using less thin models on mood, body focused anxiety and food intake, as compared to the effects of commercials using thin models.

Cortese, D.K., Lewis, M.J., Ling, P.M. (2009). Tobacco industry lifestyle magazines targeted to young adults. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45(3), 268-280.

• This study describes the tobacco industry's objectives developing and publishing lifestyle magazines, linking them to tobacco marketing strategies, and how these magazines may encourage smoking.

Hillier, A., et al. (2009). Clustering of unhealthy outdoor advertisements around child-serving institutions: A comparison of three cities. Health & Place, 15(4), 935-945.

• This study used GPS devices and digital cameras to survey outdoor, unhealthy advertisements clustered around child-serving institutions in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Austin.

Kuoa,  J.L. & Handua, D.J. (2009). Content analysis of television advertisements aired during Saturday morning children programming. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(9), Supplement 1, A100.

• This study describes the environment of television advertisements during Saturday morning children's programming and how these advertisements compare to nutrition standards.

Jones, S.C., Reid, A. (2009) .Children's magazines: reading resources or food marketing tools? Public Health Nutr.  Available Online Aug 26.

• The purpose of this study was to quantify the nature and extent of the promotion of branded food products in Australian children's magazines.

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

The Cell Phone License

The following was written by guest blogger Dr. Richard Chalfen, Senior Scientist at CMCH.  Dr. Chalfen has guest blogged for us before, contributing a 3-part series on the phenomenon of sexting. 

The popularity of cell phones has introduced a series of tension points for parents and their children. Some of these tensions are not unlike many dilemmas encountered as children grow into their teenage years including requests and permissions to stay out late, attend un-chaperoned parties, drink alcohol, drive a car, etc. 

Kids seem to be winning the quest for cell phones. The number of cell phones in the world is increasing dramatically, and the age of children in the U.S. having their own mobiles is getting younger each year. In turn, parents are noticing a range of unanticipated problems linked to inappropriate use, or simply over-use, of mobiles by their kids. Examples include too much texting, often accompanied by morning fatigue and diminished concentration, disobeying school regulations for cell use, classroom cheating, too much distraction while being a pedestrian or driving a car, too much personal information revealed on personal internet sites, among others. And many of these bad habits can result in extraordinarily high service provider bills.

So what can we draw upon to ease these growing tensions and give some sense of control and satisfaction to both parents and their children?  What should kids know about cell phones to be treated as competent members of cyber society? 

I’d like to suggest the development of a home-based, family administered and supported “cell phone license.“ To obtain this license, kids would go through a training program that emphasizes a modern version of “communicative competency” that befits participation and individual responsibility as we witness advances in modern technology. The program would focus on competency for internet safety, and for sending (and receiving) speech, text, and images.

To continue reading about Dr. Chalfen’s idea for a cell phone license and learn more about how it would work, see his blog: Imaged Life.