Center on Media and Child Health

International Research Summit on Media Effects on Child Health and Development

 
Please join CMCH at the ICA Annual Meeting 2011  Pre-conference of the Children, Adolescent, Media  (CAM) Interest Group as we discuss Media, Child Health, and Wellbeing: Setting the Research Agenda.   

Where: Westin Waterfront Hotel, Boston, MA

When: May 26, 2011, 9:00am - 4:30pm

Pre-conference Registration: http://www.icahdq.org/conferences/2011/ $100/person
*Reserve your place early; to encourage productive discussion registration is limited to 70*

Objective of the Pre-Conference
The goal of this pre-conference is to facilitate a high level, comprehensive discussion among scholars in media and child health concerning the state of the knowledge in the area and to define the research agenda (vision, goals, focus and collaborations) going forward.

Background
The potential implications that media have on children’s and adolescents’ health have attracted growing research attention in a variety of disciplines. For this research area to fully mature, it must act with an interdisciplinary focus and bring together voices from the numerous disciplines involved in the scholarly discourse, including but not limited to developmental psychology, communication, public health, medicine, cultural studies, feminist studies, and sociology of childhood. Recent advances in this realm have been marked by efforts by the Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) to compile and translate the scientific evidence, the foundation of the Journal of Children and Media, as well as the establishment of the Children, Adolescent and Media (CAM) interest group of ICA. Growing interest in creating a shared arena for scholarship and the shortage of research funding present an unusual challenge at this time, and provide an opportunity for revitalizing our field and re-defining its goals, focus and vision.

Who Should Attend
Researchers, clinicians, educators, producers and parents who are interested in understanding the effects of media on the development and physical, mental, and social health of children and in setting the agenda for future research, education and programs.

Format
The preconference will consist of 4 sessions, two in the morning, followed by lunch with informal networking and discussion among participants, and two in the afternoon. Sessions will focus on over-arching topics and will be designed to engage all participants in a seminar-like discussion. Each will begin with a 5-minute introduction by the moderator and a series of 5 minute invited overviews by scholars and thought leaders:
from around the world, followed by a group-wide discussion of the topic. Speakers include Sandra Calvert, Maya Götz, Amy Jordan, David Kleeman, Dafna Lemish, Michael Rich, David Bickham, Victor Strasburger, Patti Valkenburg, and Ellen Wartella, among others. The sessions are:

1. Examining what we know: the current state of the science, covering media platforms from TV to smartphones, health/developmental outcomes of concern from obesity to attention deficit to violence, and developmental stages from infancy to adolescence

2. Investigating an evolving landscape: multidisciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches diverse theoretical frameworks and techniques for assessing how young people use and are influenced by media

3. Translating knowledge into change: application of research findings to new strategies for parents, educators, producers and policymakers

4. Setting the agenda: a plan for the future of the field Integrative brainstorming and discussion directions for research, programs and policies

Learn more about the International Communications Association (ICA).

Open Access Media and Child Health Journals

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) maintains a comprehensive list of open access scientific and scholarly journals. Open access journals contain free, peer-reviewed and quality research. Try out a search or browse the journals by subject.

Below are some journals from the DOAJ that publish research in the areas of media and child health:

Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace

Cyberpsychology publishes research from many disciplines including psychology, sociology, media       studies, political science, and nursing. The main focus is on the way the Internet influences people, especially adolescents and young adults. Studies in the past have examined cyberbullying, virtual personas, online risk taking, and social networking.

Selected Articles:

• Gradinger,P., Strohmeier, D. et al. (2010). Definition and measurement of cyberbullying. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 4(2). 

• Salimkhan, G., Manago, A. M. et al. (2010).The construction of the virtual self on MySpace. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 4(1). 

• Tynes, B. M., Rose, C. A. et al. (2010). The development and validation of the online victimization scale for adolescents. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 4(2).

Observatorio (OBS*)
OBS is a communications journal that publishes research written in Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Italian, French and English. Research published about media and children include topics such as media literacy, television, and the Internet .

Selected Articles

• Costa, C. G. and Damásio, M. J. (2010). How media literate are we? The voices of 9 years old children about brands, ads and their online community practices. Observatorio (OBS*), 4(4), 93-115.
• García-Muñoz, N. and Fedele, M. (2011). The teen series and the young target: Gender stereotypes in television fiction targeted to teenagers. Observatorio (OBS*), 5(1),  215-226. 

• Paulussen, S., Courtois, C. et al. (2010).  Adolescents’ new media literacy in Flanders (Belgium)." Observatorio (OBS*), 4(4), 361-374.

Televizion
Televizion is published by the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI). Studies are published in an English issue once a year and in German issues twice a year. The focus is on the way television affects the lives of children and teens, including research topics on television characters, gender, and educational television .

Selected Articles:

• Fisch, S. M. (2005). Children’s learning from television: It's not just "violence”. Televizion, 10-14.

• Gotz, M. and Lemish, D. (2008). Media and the make-believe worlds of boys and girls: A multinational study. Televizion, 42-44. 

• Schlote, E. and Schreiner, M. (2010). Teens, sexual diversity and TV: Same-sex orientation and quality TV.  Televizion, 48-50. 

 

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-April 5

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

Dixon, H.G., Warne, C. D.; Scully, M.; Wakefield, M.A.; & Dobbinson, S.J.(2011). Does the portrayal of tanning in Australian women’s magazines relate to real women’s tanning beliefs and behavior? Health Education & Behavior, 38(2),132-142.

• This study found that among women of all ages, greater exposure to tanned models via the most popular women’s magazines was associated with increased likelihood of attempting to get a tan but lower likelihood of endorsing pro-tan attitudes. Popular women’s magazines may promote and reflect real women’s tanning beliefs and behavior.

Holmes, W. (2011). Using game-based learning to support struggling readers at home. Learning, Media and Technology, 36(1),5 -19.

• The author found that  the children enjoyed playing the games and believe that it helped improve their reading. And The parents all valued the opportunity to participate in their child's learning and believe that the games' approach to learning is effective.

Pearson, N., Ball, K. & Crawford, D.(2011). Mediators of longitudinal associations between television viewing and eating behaviours in adolescents. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 8(1), 23. FULL TEXT

• The study authors found that adolescents who watched more than two hours of TV/day had higher intakes of energy-dense snacks and beverages, and lower intakes of fruit two years later.

Perren, S.J.;  Dooley, J.; Shaw, T.; & Cross, D.(2010). Bullying in school and cyberspace: Associations with depressive symptoms in Swiss and Australian adolescents. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health, 4, 28.

• The study authors found that traditional victims and bully-victims reported more depressive symptoms than bullies and non-involved children. Importantly, victims of cyber-bullying reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms.

O'Keeffe, G. S. &  Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). Clinical report--The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, Published online March 28. FULL TEXT

• The authors highlight that it is important that parents become aware of the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for childrenand adolescents. Pediatricians are in a unique positionto help families understand these sites and to encourage healthy use and urge parents to monitor for potential problems with cyberbullying, "Facebook depression,"sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content.

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