Center on Media and Child Health

Recently Added Studies to the CMCH Database of Research

Take a look at some of the studies we recently added to the CMCH Database of Research.

Goldsmith, A.Y., et al. (2012). The cover story: What the book jacket of Adele Michin's young adult novel. The Beat Goes On, communicates about HIV/AIDS. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults.

• This study analyzed a book cover to determine whether cover art communicates subject matter.

Nan, X., et al. (2012). HPV vaccine information in the Blogosphere: How positive and negative blogs influence Vaccine-related risk perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Health Communication  27(8), 829-836.

• This study looked at college students and their attitudes toward the HPV vaccine by exposing them to positive- or negative-perspective blogs about the vaccine.

Roman, Z., et al. (2012). The Brand and the Bold: Synergy and sidekicks in licensed-based children’s television. Global Media Journal, 12(20), 1-15.

• This study analyzed the gender and commercialism in Batman's sidekicks in a children's television show.

Looking for research on other topics? Search the rest of the database for more studies.

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Here are some studies that were recently added to the CMCH Database of Research.

Forsyth, Susan R. & Malone, Ruth E. (2010). "I'll be your cigarette--light me up and get on with it": Examining smoking imagery on YouTube. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 12(8), 810-816.

• This content analysis of videos on YouTube found that youth are exposed to many videos that present smoking in a positive light.

Hebden, Lana, et al. (2011). Art of persuasion: An analysis of techniques used to market foods to children. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 47(11), 776-782.

• The researchers analyzed commercials for unhealthy foods and looked at how these ads are visually appealing. The ads often stressed imagination and fun as associated with their products.

Messias, Erick, et al. (2011). Sadness, suicide, and their association with video game and Internet overuse among teens: Results from the youth risk behavior survey 2007 and 2009. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 41(3), 307-315.

• The researchers found that youth who played video games for long periods of time (5 or more hours per day) were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms like suicidal ideation.

Ram, Diana, et al. (2010). Audiovisual video eyeglass distraction during dental treatment in children. Quintessance International, 41(8), 673-679.

• In this study, researchers compared children who received sedation before dental procedures with those who were distracted by audiovisual media. They found that the children who had watched the movie were better behaved during the procedure.

Looking for more research on children, media, and health issues? Take a look in the CMCH Database of Research.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: Teen Tech Week Edition

March 10-16 we celebrate Teen Tech Week, an initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association. Read more about Teen Tech Week here, and keep reading to learn about some research, news, and cool resources for encouraging digital literacy and creativity.

• Tweeting about Teen Tech Week to share your tips or ask some questions? Use the hashtag #ttw13.
• This virtual "quilt" of links will take you to some great websites that will help your teens learn how to code, create their own comics, or publish their writing.
• Media and technology can be powerful educational tools. Consider this study on how teens use technology to communicate about schoolwork, this study on how a video game encouraged tweens to change their diets for the better, and this study on how combining a traditional lecture with an educational game led to increased understanding of school subject matter.
• Want to celebrate Teen Tech Week with younger children? Check out the Association for Library Service to Children's Great Websites for Kids page or the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning page from the American Association of School Librarians.
• The key to all media and technology is positive use, which includes moderation. Take a look at this illuminating article on emotional intelligence and Instagram.
• How much do you know about Internet security? Test yourself by trying out How Secure Is My Password.
• Teens with technology skills and a global outlook should consider entering this contest sponsored by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the International Organization of Migration. By creating a video about global themes and social justice, winners can make an impact, learn some skills, and win a free trip to New York.
• Gamers can take their expertise and apply it to building an entirely new game on this website.
• The Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment, or VIA, is a CMCH project that puts cameras into the hands of young people living with chronic disease. Their video diaries not only allow them to express themselves, but they also inform doctors of what it's really like to live with certain conditions. Learn more about the study results and outcomes here and here.

What are you doing to celebrate Teen Tech Week?

Connections in News, Media, and Research: Eating Disorders Awareness Week

From February 24 to March 2, we observe Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Here is some news, research, and media on the subject.

• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is sponsored by the National Eating Disorders Association. You can learn about them here.
• Have you heard of "pro-ana" websites? User-generated and maintained web communities, pro-anorexia sites offer encouragement and tips for those suffering from eating disorders to continue their habits. Check out a 2007 study on functions of such websites and a 2006 study that looked at which adolescents use these sites.
• "Recovery is absolutely possible, and with a supportive, loving family member like you on her side, the light at the end of the tunnel shines a little brighter," says an advice columnist to a girl worried that her sister has an eating disorder. Older girls give advice to younger girls on weight, body image, eating, and more on teen e-mag Rookie. 
• Consider taking a look at teen and children's fiction about eating disorders and body image for some new perspectives on the issue. For contemporary takes, recent titles include Butter by Erin Jade Lange (YA), Skinny by Donna Cooner (YA), and Perfect by Natasha Friend (middle grade). Some classic titles include Judy Blume's Blubber (middle grade), Fat Camp Commandoes by Daniel Pinkwater (middle grade), and Life in the Fat Lane (YA) by Cherie Bennett. You can also take a look at the Young Adult Library Services Association's blog post in honor of this week.
• Research in 2006 pointed to media literacy interventions as having a great positive effect on college-aged women's body image and eating disorder risk.
• Often people point to the images of women in the media as a huge contributor to eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. A 2006 study found that girls who were more interested in fashion images had higher body dissatisfaction than those interested in fitness images, while a 2003 study considered what these images of females say to boys and what they say to girls.
• Based on the comments on YouTube, R&B trio TLC's music video for "Unpretty" still hits a nerve with its honest lyrics about body and self image. 
• A literary magazine consisting completely of teen work since 1989, Teen Ink has published personal narratives of teens who have experienced eating disorders, including this essay on beating it.

Do you have resources or stories to share in honor of Eating Disorder Awareness Week? Let us know.

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Here are some studies that were recently added to the CMCH Database of Research.

Behm-Morawitz, E., & Mastro, D.E. (2008). Mean girls? The influence of gender portrayals in teen movies on emerging adults' gender-based attitudes and beliefs. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(1), 131-146.

• This study found that teen movies imply a sense of normality to aggressive female friendships.

Coyne, S.M., et al. (2011). Media depictions of physical and relational aggression: Connections with aggression in young adults' romantic relationships. Aggressive Behavior, 37(1), 56-62.

• Researchers asked college students about their television viewing preferences and looked for connections between the shows they watched and their dating experiences.

Sloane, K., et al. (2012). A content analysis of the portrayal of alcohol in televised music videos in New Zealand: Changes over time. Drug and Alcohol Review, 32(1), 47-52.

• Researchers analyzed the presence of alcohol imagery and messages in music videos and determined that only 4% portrayed alcohol in a negative light.

Wang, H., et al. (2011). Problematic Internet use in high school students in Guangdong province, China. PLoS One, 6(5), e19660.

• Researchers in this study attempted to identify which lifestyle and relationship factors led to problematic Internet use in adolescents.

Looking for more research? Take a look in the CMCH Database of Research.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: World AIDS Day Edition

December 1st is World AIDS Day, but the awareness month continues until the new year. Here is some news and research on media and its connections with sexual health, STI/STD prevention, and sexual health literacy.

• Take a look at the official World AIDS Day website, with statistics, videos, event listings, and more. Did you know it was the first global health day?
• Why is this an important day to recognize, especially for CMCH? Research shows that the numbers of young people infected with HIV are growing, and around 60% of these teens don't even know they are affected, meaning that they miss out on healthcare and could pass HIV on to new partners. For us, that means that it's ever more important to teach health literacy, using a variety of methods - including meda - to get vital messages across.
• If you're curious about how sexual activity is portrayed in fictional media like novels, movies, and television shows, we have some research in our database. Here is an analysis of sexual activity content in young adult novels. A 2011 study looked at whether exposure to sex on TV varied by show genre. In 2010, researchers asked teens for their judgment on sexual content in television shows, and in 2009 researchers looked at whether viewing sexual content on television was related to a lower fear of contracting AIDS.
• You don't have to be an adult to care about teens and health literacy. Take a look at this blog post by a 17-year-old writer on why it's important to get tested for HIV. That same writer also wrote another post linking to a video on touring reproductive health clinics in order to lower fears and stigma associated with such visits.
• Many healthcare providers have been experimenting with using new media to engage with adolescents and encourage preventive sexual health practices. Here's a study on computer-based interventions targeting teens in rural areas, and this study looked at the efficacy of similar programs. There is also a texting-based prevention program. And what do you think of this much older (1990) method, an AIDS comic book?
• In this study, teens themselves took the lead on teaching their peers about media representations of sex.
• For more global perspectives on HIV/AIDS prevention, take a look at these studies based in Brazil, Uganda, Jamaica, and a global initiative with a study based in Nepal, Brazil, and Senegal.
• Rookie is an online teen magazine (and huge phenomenon) started by a teenage girl and featuring adult and teen contributors. It's a great way for teen girls to teach and converse with each other about sexual health issues, empowerment, and concerns. Take a look at some of these great posts: 1, 2, and 3.

To look at more research on the effects of media on child and adolescent health, check out the free CMCH Database of Research.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: Alcohol Awareness Week Edition

Today begins Alcohol Awareness Week, so we're highlighting news, innovation, and research related to our mission of healthy media use by children and adolescents.

• There is a lot of research on how alcohol is represented in media for teens, especially movies and music videos. Take a look at some of the most recently published content analyses and studies here: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
• A recent episode of the comedy "Modern Family" (ABC) caused quite a stir when one of the characters was expelled from college for underage drinking. From Twitter to parenting blogs, people were asking questions like whether expulsion was legal, whether the episode was a teaching moment for teens, and whether it was plausible storytelling. You can read a summary of the episode here, and you can follow some community conversation in the blogosphere here. And if you'd like to see how that plays out in the real world, look at this study on media coverage of celebrity DUIs.
• For government resources on alcohol abuse and media literacy,  you can look at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) newsletter or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) newsletter.
• Nobody can legally sell alcohol to U.S. minors under the age of 21, but that doesn't stop them from advertising in venues read, passively seen, or watched by teens. Check out some of the many studies on alcohol advertising in the database: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
• Teens in Oregon have taken alcohol abuse prevention into their own hands and created their own anti-drinking ads. You can check some of them out here.
• For international perspectives, take a look at a study about teens in European countries, where drinking culture and legal age vary drastically from in the U.S.

Remember, if you're looking for more research, whether on alcohol or on any other health issue, you can check the CMCH Database of Research.

Connections in News, Media, and Research: National Bullying Prevention Month Edition

In honor of National Bullying Prevention Month (October), we are highlighting some recent news and studies available in our database that are related to children/adolescents, the media, and bullying/cyberbullying.

• National Bullying Prevention Month is an initiative of the PACER Center, which is dedicated to supporting and empowering families and children with disabilities.
• A mid-September article in the Examiner reported that parents of special needs children are seeking to have videotaping present in special education classrooms to discourage bullying and mistreatment of children. They also linked to articles about the bullying of special needs kids while in school, either by teachers or other students.
• To familiarize yourself with bullying and cyberbullying, take a look at this article, which asks whether cyberbullying is "overrated," this article on the evolution from bullying to cyberbullying, and this article that asks what makes a bully, all available in our database.
• It's not just adults who are concerned about cyberbullying and its effects on kids. Take a look at this fifth grader who wrote a song about bullying and performed it.
• Learn who the aggressors and who the victims are in cyberbullying with these studies.
• If you'd like to know what CMCH Director and Mediatrician Michael Rich, MD, has to say about bullying and online saftey, check out our other blog, Ask the Mediatrician.
• You might also be interested to know how children feel about cyberbullying, which online platforms have the most incidences of cyberbullying, how adolescents protect themselves from and cope with cyberbullying, or how exposure to different material online can lead to other types of aggression.
• January was No Name-Calling Week, but that doesn't mean it's not relevant all year round. Check out this blog post from the Association of Library Service to Children with a list of books, fiction and non-fiction, related to bullying and name-calling.
• Bullies are often victims themselves. This new article in Medical Daily says that school bullies are three times more likely to suffer from depression.
• Once you've exhausted the CMCH Database of Research, you might also want to check out the Cyberbullying Research Center for fact sheets and other information you can share with parents, teachers, and young people.

Are there any efforts you'll be making to support National Bullying Prevention Month?

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these studies of interest on the topics of children, media, and health that were recently added to the CMCH database:

Barroso, C.S., et al. (2011). Saturday morning television advertisements aired on English and Spanish language networks along the Texas-Mexico border. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 2(2), 1-22.

• This study analyzed food-related commercials aired during children's television programming in an area at high risk for obesity, the Texas-Mexico border. The researchers found that only a small amount of the total commercial time was dedicated to food advertisements, but of that portion, the majority of advertisements were for unhealthy foods.

Boisseau, C.L., et al. (2011). Representation of ideal figure size in Ebony magazine: A content analysis. Body Image, 8(4), 373-378.

• This study looked at issues published over the last couple of decades of Ebony magazine, a publication meant for African American women. They looked at female readers' reactions to diet- and exercise-related content, sizes and shapes of female models, and other factors. They concluded that the African American community may have more accepting attitudes about different body sizes and shapes, and that this was reflected in the magazine.

Devis-Devis, V.J., et al. (2012). Brief report: Association between socio-demographic factors, screen media usage and physical activity by type of day in Spanish adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35(1), 213-218.

• This study looked at Spanish adolescents' leisure activities that were media-based and looked at associations between media usage and physical activity. Media usage/physical activity relationships depended on the type of media and whether it was a weekday or weekend.

Jones, R.K., & Biddlecom, A.E. (2011). Is the Internet filling the sexual health information gap for teens? An exploratory study. Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, 16(2), 112-123.

• Researchers asked high school students whether they used the Internet to seek information on sexual health topics. They found that most students only used the Internet for this purpose when it was a school assignment, not when it was for their own interests. However, the researchers concluded that the Internet could be used as a way to offer sexual health information so long as teachers use media literacy training to help students assess the validity of websites.

 Young, R., et al. (2011). Keeping in constant touch: The predictors of young Australians' mobile phone involvement. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 333-342.

• This study looked at which characteristics were shared by teens who used mobile phones in Australia. They found that young people used mobile phones more. Interestingly, more positive self concept was correlated with higher phone usage as well. 

Looking for other studies? Click here to search the CMCH Database of Research.

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these studies of interest on the topics of children, media, and health that were recently added to the CMCH database:

Hawkes, C., & Harris, J.L. (2011). An analysis of the content of food industry pledges on marketing to children. Journal of Public Health and Nutrition, 14(8), 1403-1414.

• This article looked at a variety of pledges and commitments made by food companies with regards to advertising to children. They found that while certain types of foods, like sugary snacks, were restricted, in general children were still exposed to a large amount of food advertising.

Lapierre, Matthew A., et al. (2012). Background television in the homes of US children. Pediatrics, published online.

• This new study, receiving a lot of publicity, surveyed parents to find out how often television was on their homes, how many televisions were in the house, and whether there were televisions in bedrooms. They found that children are exposed to many more minutes of television than previously thought, and that African American and younger children were most likely to be exposed to high levels of background television.

Luder, M.T., et al. (2011). Associations between online pornography and sexual behavior among adolescents: Myth or reality? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(5), 1027-1035.

• This study looked at teens who had and had not looked at online pornography. The researchers made associations between pornography usage and sexual orientation and condom use, but they did not find evidence that engaging with online pornography led to specific sexual behaviors or risks.

Manganello, J., & Chauhan, A.G. (2011). Car riding behavior in television programs watched by adolescents in the US. Journal of Children and Media, 5(2), 194-203.

• In this content analysis, researchers looked at 15 television shows popular with teens and analyzed the different driving behaviors portrayed in them, from drunk driving to seatbelt use to speeding. They also looked at associations between behaviors and race and behaviors and gender.

Looking for other studies? Click here to search the CMCH Database of Research.