Center on Media and Child Health

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-March 22

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

Levin-Zamir, D., Lemish, D. & Gofin, R. (2011). Media Health Literacy (MHL): development and measurement of the concept among adolescents. Health Education Research, 26(2), 323-335. 

• The findings suggest that as a determinant of adolescent health behavior, this model of MHL identifies groups at risk and may provide a basis for health promotion among youth.

Ma, H.K., S.C. Li, & Pow, J.W. (2011). The relation of Internet use to prosocial and antisocial behavior in Chinese adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(3), 123-130.

• The data in this study supports thyat positive Internet behavior is positively associated with positive daily social behavior, and negative Internet behavior is positively associated with negative daily social behavior.

Martins, N. & Harrison, K. (2011) Racial and gender differences in the relationship between children’s television use and self-esteem: A longitudinal panel study. Communication Research. Available March 16

• The results revealed that television exposure, after controlling for age, body satisfaction, and baseline self-esteem, was significantly related to children’s self-esteem. Specifically, television exposure predicted a decrease in self-esteem for White and Black girls and Black boys, and an increase in self-esteem among White boys.

McCarty, C., Prawitz, A. D., Derscheid, L.E., & Montgomery, B. (2011). Perceived safety and teen risk taking in online chat sites. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(3),169-174.

• The results of the study revealed that perception of safety factors were useful in predicting online risk-taking behaviors. Teens with more social discomfort and those who thought it was safe to reveal personal information and trust chat-site “friends” were more likely to take risks. As time spent in chat sites increased, so did risk-taking behaviors.

Moyer-Guse, E. & Nabi, R.L. (2011). Comparing the effects of entertainment and educational television programming on risky sexual behavior. Health Commununication, Available Online March 16,  1-11.

• The results demonstrate that effects of exposure to the entertainment-education (E-E) program vary depending on gender and past experience with sexual intercourse. In particular, females and those who had not initiated sexual intercourse showed the strongest effects.

     ***

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

Research Toolbox: GoPubMed and Pubget Search Tools

Have you read Zhiyong Lu’s “PubMed and Beyond: Survey of Web Tools for Searching the Biomedical Literature”? The author describes 28 web tools that support unique searches in PubMed and a website was created that lists all of the currently available tools. Try some of them out!

We have highlighted some of the features of GoPubMed and PubGet:

GoPubMed

• Autocomplete search based on MeSH, Gene Ontology, and journal titles
• Search results are sorted in categories: What’, ‘Who’, ‘Where’, and ‘When’
• The Statistics section shows the top journals, countries, years of publication, and authors that apply to your search term(s)
• Check out the help section to learn more about GoPubMed

Pubget

• This tool allows you to search easily your institution’s journal. Check to see if your institution/school is signed up in the drop down menu under the search bar
• If your institution is not signed up, you can activate your institution. It’s free for non-profit institutions!
• Full text articles from your institution’s subscription journals and PubMed are immediately made available
• Search results appear on the left and, if it is available, the PDF will load on the right
• Not affiliated with an institution? You can still search through 3 million free papers
• Go to the About Us page to learn more about Pubget

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-March 8

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

Brunborg, G. S., et al. (2011). The relationship between media use in the bedroom, sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia. J Sleep Res. Available online Feb 16.

• This study indicates that the use of computers and mobile telephones in the bedroom are related to poor sleep habits.The authors found that the respondents who used a computer and mobile telephone in their bedrooms rose later on weekdays and turned off the lights to go to sleep later and rose later at weekends/days off. 

Gentzler, A. L.; Oberhauser,  A. M.; Westerman, D.;  & Nadorff, D.K. (2011). College students' use of electronic communication with parents: Links to loneliness, attachment, and relationship quality. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 14(1-2), 71-74.

• Results indicated that students who report more frequent phone conversations with parents also report more satisfying, intimate, and supportive parental relationships, but those students who use a social-networking site to communicate with parents report higher levels of loneliness, anxious attachment, as well as conflict within the parental relationship. 

Lapierre, M. A., S. E. Vaala,, Linebarger, D.L.(2011). Influence of licensed spokescharacters and health cues on children's ratings of cereal taste. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., 165(3), 229-234.

• Children who saw a popular media character on the box reported liking the cereal more than those who viewed a box with no character on it. Those who were told the cereal was named Healthy Bits liked the taste more  than children who were told it was named Sugar Bits.

Jacobs, K., et al. (2011). University students' notebook computer use: Lessons learned using e-diaries to report musculoskeletal discomfort. Ergonomics, 54(2),  206-219.

• In this study, university students reported less upper extremity musculoskeletal discomfort when using an ergonomic chair and notebook riser. Without some form of ergonomic intervention, these students are likely to enter the workforce with poor computing habits, which places them on the road to future injuries as technology continues to play a dominant role in their lives.

Rey-Lopez, J. P., et al. (2011). Food and drink intake during television viewing in adolescents: The Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study. Public Health Nutr, 1-7.

• This study found that watching TV for >2 h/d was associated with the consumption of energy-dense foods and drinks. Boys reported more frequent consumption of beer and soft drinks whereas girls selected more fruit juice, water, herbal infusions and sweets.

     ***

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