Center on Media and Child Health

Research Toolbox: New Journal on Emerging Media and Learning

Check out this new journal published by the MIT Press:

The International Journal of Learning and Media focus on emerging forms of media and learning and provides an international forum for scholars, researchers and practitioners to explore the relationship between emerging forms of media and learning, in a variety of forms and settings.

The first issue is now available online for free. Some of the topics in that issue include:

• Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter
• Games and Learning: What's the Connection?
• A Developmental Lens for Designing Virtual Worlds for Children and Youth

 

New Study: Alcohol Advertising on Public Transportation

Since we're located in Boston, we were thrilled to see a study in this month's American Journal of Public Health about alcohol advertising on Boston's public transportation system, the MBTA.  CMCH asked author Michael Siegel, MD MPH to be a guest blogger and tell us more about what he found.  Dr. Siegel is a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and the author of Marketing Public Health: Strategies to Promote Social Change.

Every day, approximately 9,600 Boston schoolchildren take the T (short for the MBTA - Boston’s public transit system) to and from school. What their parents may not realize is that while en route, these kids are bombarded with alcohol advertising, thanks to the state of Massachusetts’ willingness to allow its property to be used for the marketing of alcohol to youths. Our study, which I co-authored with three students at the Boston University School of Public Health, revealed that through the MBTA subway trains, alcohol companies are able to achieve, in a single day, the same amount of advertising exposure among Boston youths as if they took out 5.5 Super Bowl commercials.

We studied the extent of alcohol advertising on the T by surveying four consecutive trains on each of the four subway lines on two separate occasions, one month apart. We found that on average:

• each subway car contains two advertisements
• these ads result in 18,000 alcohol ad exposures among Boston schoolchildren ages 11-18 each day
• on a typical day, alcohol companies are able to achieve the equivalent of exposing 54% of Boston youths to alcohol advertising, all thanks to the state’s willingness to allow its property to be used for alcohol marketing purposes.

These ads are clearly designed to appeal to youths and to entice them to use alcohol before they reach the legal age of alcohol purchase, which is 21. For example, one advertisement we found on the T showed a college student arriving to move in to his dorm. The two essential items depicted for move-in day were his furniture and a larger-than-life bottle of Absolut vodka.

A large body of evidence demonstrates that these alcohol ads not only appeal to kids, but they also influence adolescents’ decisions to start drinking. In other words, by allowing alcohol ads on the MBTA, the state is allowing its property to be used for the recruitment of new youth drinkers.

Massachusetts state representative Martin Walsh has introduced legislation that would eliminate alcohol advertising on state property. The bill (H-1113) is currently being considered by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

In the mean time, the state continues to allow the promotion of underage drinking on state property through the daily bombardment of youths by alcohol advertisements on the MBTA subway system.

 

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies: November 6, 2009

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

Bell, R.A., Cassady, D., Culp, J., & Alcalay, R. (2009). Frequency and types of foods advertised on Saturday morning and weekday afternoon English- and Spanish-language American television programs.
J Nutr Educ Behav, 41(6)-406-13.

• This study investigates  food advertised on networks serving children and youth, and to compare ads on English-language networks with ads on Spanish networks.

Hoffner, C. (2009). Affective responses and exposure to frightening films: The role of empathy and different types of content. Communication Research Reports, 26,(4), 285- 296.

• This study attempts to  measured empathy, affective responses and exposure to frightening films, and perceptions of how aspects of scary content affect enjoyment in young adults.

Lingas, E.O., Dorfman, L.,& Bukofzer. E. (2009) Nutrition content of food and beverage products on web sites popular with children. Am J Public Health, 99(S3), S587-S59.

• The authors assessed the nutritional quality of branded food and beverage products advertised on 28 Web sites popular with children.

Nyborn, J.A., Wukitsch, K., Nhean, S., &  Siegel, M. (2009). Alcohol advertising on Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit System: An assessment of youths' and adults' exposure. Am J Public Health, 99(S3), 644-S648.

• We investigated the frequency with which alcohol advertisements appeared on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit lines in Boston, MA, and we calculated adult and youths' exposure to the ads.

Richmond, T.K., Walls, C.E., Gooding, H.C., Field, A.E. (2009).Television viewing is not predictive of BMI in Black and Hispanic young adult females. Obesity, Available Online Oct 29.

• This study examined whether the cross-sectional association between TV viewing and BMI varied by racial/ethnic subgroups among young women in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

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

Research Toolbox: Open Access Journals on Children, Media, and Health

The Directory of Open Access Journals is a portal that provides access to free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals in several languages and subject areas. Currently, there are 4418 journals in the directory.

Here are selected journals which explore issues related to children, media, and health:

• Early Childhood Research & Practice

This journal covers topics related to the development, care, and education of children from birth to approximately age 8.

• Children, Youth, and Environments

This journal provides a forum to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and stimulate discussion in support of inclusive and sustainable environments for children and youth everywhere.

• The Future of Children

The mission of this journal is to translate the best social science research about children and youth into information that is useful to policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, and students of public policy.

• Televizion

Televizion is a free full-text scholarly e-journal, examining children's issues in television production and consumption. The annual journal is published in English and German by the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI).There are seven English issues available for download.

• Cyberpsychology : Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace

This journal is a web-based, peer-reviewed scholarly journal. It is focused on social science research into cyberspace, while bringing psychosocial reflections of the Internet impact onto people and society.

• Nordicom Review

Nordicom Review is a refereed journal which provides a major forum for media and communication researchers in the Nordic countries.

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

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies: October 30, 2009

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

Aires, L., Andersen, L., Mendonça, D., Martin, C., Silva, G., & Mota, J. (2009). A 3-year longitudinal analysis of changes in fitness, physical activity, fatness and screen time. Acta Paediatr. Available Online Oct 19.

• This study analyzes whether changes in physical activity index, screen time (ST: television, computer) and body mass index made a contribution to longitudinal changes in fitness of children and adolescents.

Brookes, F. &  Kelly, P. (2009). Dolly girls: Tweenies as artefacts of consumption. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(6), 599-613.

• This paper argues that the 'consumer-media culture' has established itself as one of the most powerful influences in processes of self-formation for young people, and that a tweenie self can be understood as an artefact of consumption.

Manios, Y. et al. (2009). Obesity and television watching in preschoolers in Greece: The GENESIS study. Obesity,17(11), 2047–2053.

• The aim of the current work was to evaluate the effect of preschoolers' television (TV) watching time on the prevalence of obesity even after controlling for their total energy intake and their physical activity status.

Owens, S., Lambert, L., McDonough, S., Green, K., & Loftin, M. (2009). Feasibility of a home-delivered Internet obesity prevention program for fourth-grade students. Pediatr Exerc Sci. 21(3), 279-290.

• This study examined the feasibility of an interactive obesity prevention program delivered to a class of fourth-grade students utilizing daily e-mail messages sent to the students' home computers.

West, A., Lewis, J., & Currie, P. (2009). Students' Facebook 'friends': Public and private spheres. Journal of Youth Studies,12(6), 615-627.

• This study involved interviewing a sample of student users of Facebook: it focuses on the extent to which older adults, especially parents, are accepted as Facebook friends, and the attitudes towards such friendships and potential friendships and what these reveal about notions of

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

Research Toolbox: Statistics Resources on Media Use and Children

The newly released Nielsen report A2/M2: Three Screen Report, revealed that Americans are increasing their overall media consumption and that on average consumers spend 2 hours, 39 minutes each month simultaneously using the Internet while also watching TV. 

In the light of this statistical report, here are some statistics resources on media use and children:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Data and Statistics
  

Resources for parents and educators about youth and electronic aggression.

• Kaiser Family Foundation- Fast Facts on Media and Health

Kaiser's database of slides and tables. You can use the slides and tables to create your own customized PowerPoint slideshow.

• Media Use Statistics by Frank W. Baker

Resources on media habits of children, youth, and adults.

• Nielsen Media

Insightful information about about the media industry and consumption, and links to Nielsen media reports.

• Nordicom (Nordic Information Center for Media and Communication Research)

Insightful data on media use collected by Statistics Finland, Statistics Iceland, medianorway, and Nordicom-Sweden.

• Pew Internet & American Life Project

Statistics on the latest  Pew Internet & American Life Project research, infographics, and trend data.

 

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-October 16, 2009

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

Biddle, S.J., Gorely, T., & Marshall, S.J. (2009).  Is television viewing a suitable marker of sedentary behavior in young people? Ann Behav Med. Available Online Oct 7.

• This study was conducted to test whether TV viewing in UK teenagers is a marker of sedentary behavior more broadly and to see if the results mirror those of Australian adults.

McCarthy, W.J., et al. (2009). Density of  tobacco retailers near schools: Effects on tobacco use among students. American Journal of Public Health, 99(11), 2006-2013.

• This study examined the relationship between students' tobacco use and the density and proximity of tobacco retailers near their schools.

Parvanta, S. A., Brown, J.D., Du, S., Zimmer,  C.R.,  Zhao, X.,  Zhai, F. (2009). Television use and snacking behaviors among children and adolescents in China. Journal of Adolescent Health, Available Online October 12.

• This study examines the association between TV watching and paying attention to TV commercials with buying and requesting snacks seen on commercials, and eating snacks while watching TV among youth in China.

Pfeffer, K.,& Orum, J. (2009). Risk and injury portrayal in boys' and girls' favourite television programmes. Inj Prev.,15(5), 312-316.

• To analyze the injury-related content of children's television programmes preferred by boys and by girls, and to determine whether there are more televised models of unsafe behaviour in programmes preferred by boys.

Skoric, M.M., Teo, L.L.C. & Neo, R.L. (2009). Children and video games: Addiction, engagement, and scholastic achievement. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(5), 567-572.

• The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between video gaming habits and elementary school students' academic performance.

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

Research Toolbox: Upcoming Conferences

Save the dates! To help you keep track of conference, here is a list of upcoming events that may be of interest:

Conferences  Updated!

• National Communication Association, 95th Annual Convention, November 12-15, 2009, Chicago, Illinois.

• Modern Brains: Enhancing Memory and Performance in This Distracting Digital Age, November 20–22, 2009 , Boston, MA.

• Children, Youth and Media Conference 2009, November 19, 2009, Toronto, Canada.

• Excellence in Paediatrics,  December 3-6, 2009, Florence, Italy.

• Consuming Kids Summit - Market Values, Human Values, and the Lives of Children, April 8-10, 2010, Boston, MA.

• World Summit on Media for Children and Youth, June 14-18, 2010, Karlstad, Sweden.

• International Communication Association- Matters of Communication: Political, Cultural and Technological Changes, June 22-26, 2010, Singapore.

Call for Papers

• 2010 International Communication Association- Children, Adolescent and media session papers submission to Amy Jordan by November 6, 2009.

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies- October 9, 2009

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

de Bruijn, G.J. & van den Putte, B. (2009). Adolescent soft drink consumption, television viewing and habit strength: Investigating clustering effects in the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Appetite, 53(1), 66-75.

• This study explores adolescent soft drink consumption, television viewing and habit strength

Ko, C.H., Yen, J.Y., Chen, C.S.,  Yeh, Y.C., & Yen, C.F. (2009). Predictive values of psychiatric symptoms for Internet addiction in adolescents: A 2-Year Prospective Study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 163(10),937-943.

• This study sets out to evaluate the predictive values of psychiatric symptoms for the occurrence of Internet addiction and to determine the sex differences in the predictive value of psychiatric symptoms for the occurrence of Internet addiction in adolescents.

Montgomery, K.C. &  Chester, J. (2009). Interactive food and beverage aarketing: Targeting adolescents in the Digital Age. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45(3)Supplement 1, S18-S29.

• This study explores how major food and beverage companies,  have incorporated features of interactive media elements into their interactive marketing strategies, posing particular risks to adolescents.

Notten, N. & Kraaykamp, G. (2009). Parents and the media: A study of social differentiation in parental media socialization. Poetics, 37(3),185-200.

• The authors analyzed the effects of parental social background and family composition on various types of parental media socialization.

Wight, V.R., Price, J.,  Bianchi, S.M. &  Bijou R. Hunt, B.R. (2009). The time use of teenagers. Social Science Research, 38(4),792-809.

• This paper uses American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data to describe the time use of teenagers ages 15–17, with a focus on activities that may affect teenagers’ well-being such as sleep, eating, schoolwork, and selected leisure activities.

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

Research Toolbox: New Journal on Media Literacy Education

Check out this recently launched journal sponsored by the National Association for Media Literacy Education. Here's more information:

The Journal of Media Literacy Education is an online interdisciplinary journal that supports the development of research, scholarship and the pedagogy of media literacy education. Some of the topics in the latest issue include:

• Measuring the Effects of a Media Literacy Program on Conflict and Violence
• Surveying Parent Mediation
• Teaching Media Literacy in Less Than an Hour
• Obtaining, Processing, and Constructing English: Blogging in the ESL Classroom
• The Past, Present, and Future of Media Literacy Educational