Center on Media and Child Health

Research Wrap-Up: Special Issue of Infant and Child Development

The new issue of the journal Infant and Child Development explores the hotly debated topic of children's exposure to media, with particular focus on content and context of early media exposure.

Here's a sample of the research highlighted in this issue:

Mendelson, A.L. et al. (2010). Do verbal interactions with infants during electronic media exposure mitigate adverse impacts on their language development as toddlers? Infant and Child Development, 19(6), 577–593.

• This study found that verbal interactions between mothers and their 6-month-old infants during media exposure (‘media verbal interactions’) may have positive language development impact.

Allen, R. & Scofield, J. (2010). Word learning from videos: more evidence from 2-year-olds. Infant and Child Development, 19(6), 649–661.

• This study's results showed that 2-year-olds learned and disambiguated words from video (as measured by both pointing and naming) and that learning was similar on the video and live versions of each task.

Fenstermacher, S. K. et al. (2010).Interactional quality depicted in infant and toddler videos: Where are the interactions? Infant and Child Development, 19(6), 594–612.

• This study examined the social–emotional content and the quality of social interactions depicted in 58 DVDs and found that infant-directed videos rarely used social interactions between caregiver and child or between peers to present content.

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

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-November 23

New published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

DeLoache, J.S. et al. (2010). Do babies learn from baby media? Psychol Sci. 21(11), 1570-1574.

• This study found that children who viewed the DVD did not learn any more words from their month long exposure to it than did a control group. The highest level of learning occurred in a no-video condition in which parents tried to teach their children the same target words during everyday activities.

Drew, S.E., Rony E. Duncan, R.E. & Sawyer, S.M. (2010). Visual storytelling: A beneficial but challenging method for health research with young people. Qual Health Res, 20(12), 1677-1688.

• The authors found that this technique facilitated rich interviews, drawing into focus details of young peoples’ lives that otherwise might not have been discussed.

Durant, N.H. (2010). Not just fun and games: Harnessing technology to address childhood obesity
Childhood Obesity, 6(5), 283-284.

• From PDAs, computer kiosks to cell phones, this study highlights how emerging technologies provide a novel approach to fight childhood obesity.

Jones. S.C. & Reid, A.(2010). Children’s magazines: Reading resources or food marketing tools?
Public Health Nutrition, 13(3), 393-399

• The authors several advertisements classified as regular food advertisements appeared to be in breach of codes regarding advertising to children in Australia. This raises questions about the effectiveness of legal restrictions and self-regulation of advertising in protecting children from commercial food messages that may not be regarded as advertising.

Mesquita, G., &  Reimão, R. (2010). Quality of sleep among university students: Effects of nighttime computer and television use. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 68(5), 720-725.  

• This study showed that a  large majority of students who accessed internet use between 7:00 PM and 12:00 AM had an increased risk of poor sleep. FREE ARTICLE

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

Research Toolbox: Youth Anti-Smoking Strategies

According to the latest CDC youth tobacco use, each day in the United States, approximately 3,900 young people between 12 and 17 years of age smoke their first cigarette, and an estimated 1,000 youth become daily cigarette smokers.                       On November 18, the American Cancer Society is celebrating the 35th Great American Smokeout and encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day.

To celebrate the event, we highlighted studies that explored various youth anti-smoking programs and strategies:

Vardavas, C.I., Symvoulakis, E.K., Connolly, G.N., Patelarou, E., & Lionis, C. (2010). What defines an effective anti-tobacco TV advertisement? A pilot study among Greek adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 7(1), 78-88.  FREE ARTICLE

• Researchers found that ads that were viewed by the adolescents as having a clear message, having  message that is important to them, and making them "stop and think," tended to be rated as being more effective. Advertisements that elicited emotions, such as fear, anger and sadness, also tended to be rated more effective. 

Rhodes, N. , Roskos-Ewoldsen, D., Eno, C.A. & Monahan, J.L. (2009). The content of cigarette counter-advertising: Are perceived functions of smoking addressed? Journal of Health Communication, 14(7), 658-673. FREE ARTICLE

• Researchers found that adolescents were the most common targets of the anti-smoking advertisements. Ads for younger audiences focused on the social image of smokers, negative influences of smoking on athletes, and attacking the tobacco industry. Researchers suggested that anti-smoking advertisements need to address what teens think are the benefits of smoking in order to be more effective.

Primack, B.A., Fine, D, Yang CK, Wickett D., & Zickmund S. (2009). Adolescents' impressions of antismoking media literacy education: Qualitative results from a randomized controlled trial. Health Educ Res, 24(4), 608-621.  FREE ARTICLE

• Researchers found that the media literacy anti-smoking program received positive ratings from the students. They concluded that, although anti-smoking media literacy programs seemed to be a good approach, introducing some components of more traditional approaches might increase the effectiveness of an anti-smoking program.

Whittaker, R. et al. (2008). A multimedia mobile phone-based youth smoking cessation intervention: Findings from content development and piloting studies. J Med Internet Res. 10(5), e49. FREE ARTICLE

• For 4 weeks, participants received 2 messages per day on their cell phones that included text messages, anti-tobacco video clips, and videos of role models talking about smoking and quitting. Of the participants, 9 actually quit smoking and said the program had helped them to do it.

Edwards, C., Oakes, W., & Bull, D. (2007). Out of the smokescreen II: Will an advertisement targeting the tobacco industry affect young people's perception of smoking in movies and their intention to smoke? Tob Control. 16(3), 177–181. FREE ARTICLE

• Researchers found that compared to participants that did not see the anti-smoking message, non-smokers that did see the message were more likely to see glamorous portrayals of smoking as “not OK”.

Farrelly, M.C., Niederdeppe, J., & Yarsevich, J. (2003). Youth tobacco prevention mass media campaigns: Past, present, and future directions. Tob Control, 12 Suppl 1,i35-47.  FREE ARTICLE

• Researchers found that mass media prevention campaigns can be effective, but that they are most likely to be effective when paired with school or community based programs.

Looking for more resources? This list of youth web sites offers links to state resources and organizations throughout the U.S.

Research Toolbox: Studies on Substance Abuse and Media

According to NIDA's 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey (High School and Youth Trends), cigarette smoking is at its lowest among students in grades 8, 10, and 12. On the other hand, Marijuana use rates have remained steady  and non-medical use of Vicodin and Oxycodin increased in the past 5 years.

To kick off NIDA's National Drug Facts Week, we highlighted studies that explore the relationship between youth substance abuse and media:

Primack, B. A., Kraemer, K. L., Fine, M. J., & Dalton, M. A. (2009).  Media exposure and Marijuana and alcohol use among Adolescents. Substance Use & Misuse, 44(5), 722-739.

• Researchers found that kids who listened to more than four hours of music per day were more likely to have used marijuana than those who listened to less music. Kids who watched more movies were more likely to have used alcohol than other kids

Primack, B. A., Dalton, M. A., Carroll, M. V., Agarwal, A. A., & Fine, M. J. (2008). Content analysis of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs in popular music. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 162(2), 169-175.

• Researchers found that rap music had the most references to substance use, while pop music had the fewest. They also found that alcohol was the most commonly portrayed substance in music lyrics, and that consequences of substance use were often portrayed as positive rather than negative.

Hanewinkel, R., & Sargent, J. D. (2007). Exposure to smoking in popular contemporary movies and youth smoking in Germany. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(6), 466-473.

• Researchers found that teens with higher exposure to smoking appearances in movies were significantly more likely to have tried smoking and to be a current smoker.

Gruber, E. L., Thau, H. M., Hill, D. L., Fisher, D. A., & Grube, J. W. (2005). Alcohol, tobacco and illicit substances in music videos: A content analysis of prevalence and genre. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37(1), 81-83.

• Researchers analyzed about 360 music videos from cable channels, looking for the presence of alcohol, tobacco, or other substances. They found that 4 out of 10 videos showed some evidence of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs. 

Blair, N. A., Yue, S. K., Singh, R., & Bernhardt, J. M. (2005). Depictions of substance use in reality television: A content analysis of “The Osbournes.”Bmj, 331(7531), 1517-1519.

• Researchers looked at the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco in the reality television show "The Osbournes." They found that the show sends out mixed messages: sometimes characters reject tobacco, alcohol and drugs use while at other times they approve of it. 

Stern, S. R. (2005). Messages from teens on the big screen: Smoking, drinking, and drug use in teen-centered films. J Health Commun, 10(4), 331-346.

• The researcher analyzed 43 popular movies for teen smoking, drinking and drug use. She found that teenaged characters were shown smoking, drinking and doing drugs. 

 Wax, P. M. (2002). Just a click away: Recreational drug Web sites on the Internet. Pediatrics, 109(6), e96.

•  The researcher explored information accessible on the Internet regarding recreational drug use and found that there are many sites on the World Wide Web, all easily accessible to children who are familiar with the Internet, that contain mixed messages about drug use.

Long, J. A., O'Connor, P. G., Gerbner, G., & Concato, J. (2002). Use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco among characters on prime-time television.  Substance Abuse, 23(2), 95-103.

•  Researchers investigated the use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco by prime-time, major network television characters and found that the depiction of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use on television occurs much more infrequently than the use of these substances occurs in real life.

Halpern, J. H., & Pope, H. G., Jr. (2001). Hallucinogens on the Internet: A vast new source of underground drug information. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(3), 481-483.

• The study authors located numerous sites on the location, production, and consumption of hallucinogenic materials. They found that much of the information was of a questionable nature, and there were few educational or governmental websites with material to counteract hallucinogen misinformation.

 Forsyth, A. J., Barnard, M., & McKeganey, N. P. (1997). Musical preference as an indicator of adolescent drug use. Addiction, 92(10), 1317-1325.

• Researchers surveyed teens in Scotland about their musical preferences. They found that kids who were rave music fans were more likely to have used drugs than those who did not list rave music in their response.

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

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-November 2

New published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Calamaro, C.J. et al. (2010). Shortened sleep duration does not predict obesity in adolescents. Journal Of Sleep Research,19(4), 559-566.

• The authors found that environmental factors including TV ≥ 2 h per day and depression were significantly associated with obesity; shortened sleep duration was not.  Adolescents who watched TV ≥ 2 h per day were 37% more likely to be obese.

Fergunson, C.J.; Olson, C.K., Kutner, L.A. &Warner, D.E. (2010) Violent video games, catharsis-seeking, bullying and delinquency: A multivariate analysis of effects. Crime and Delinquency, published online March 4.

• The study results indicated that delinquent and bullying behavior were predicted by students’ trait aggression and stress level. Violent video game exposure was not found to be predictive of delinquency or bullying, nor was level of parental involvement.

Nguyen,  T.N.; Nilsson, S.;  Hellström, A-L.; & Bengtson, A. (2010). Music therapy to reduce pain and anxiety in children with cancer undergoing lumbar puncture: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 27(3), 146-155. Free article

• This study found that music medicine influences pain and anxiety in children with leukemia undergoing lumbar punctures. The results showed lower pain and anxiety scores and heart and respiratory rates of the children receiving music therapy during and after the lumbar puncture.

Reavley, N.J., Cvetkovski, S., & Jorm, A.F. (2010).Sources of information about mental health and links to help seeking: Findings from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, published online Oct 27.

• This survey of Australians aged 16-85 years found that television was the most common source of information about mental health issues in the previous 12 months, followed by pamphlets and brochures.

Robinson, T.N. et al. (2010). A randomized controlled trial of culturally tailored dance and reducing screen time to prevent weight gain in low-income African American girls: Stanford GEMS. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 164 (11),995-1004. 

• This study found that a culturally tailored after-school dance and screen time reduction intervention for low-income, preadolescent African American girls slowed BMI gain more than health education among girls who watched more television at baseline.

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