Center on Media and Child Health

CMCH Database: Full-Text Availability

The CMCH Database of Research (DoR) is a database of citations on children, media and health and it's freely available online.  You can read the abstracts and in the process of adding new citations to the database, we try to find free full-text version of the article and make it available within the citation record.

Now let's try out a real search and see what we can find! 

 I’ve decided that I want to do a search about advertisements and television:

1. I enter the word advertisements into a search box and enter television into another search box.
2. I change the Boolean operator to AND, so that I am doing a search for advertisement AND television.
3. I leave the drop-down menu on All Fields. 
4. I limit my search to to Experimental Studies.

To find free full-text:

• In your search results, click to view the individual citation record
• Look at the bottom of the screen
• If  "Full Text Available" is highlighted, the full-text is available for your to read!

Here is a sample of the search results that include Full Text Available:

• Advertising influences on young children’s food choices and parental influence
• Television watching increases motivated responding for food and energy intake in children
• Violence and sex in television programs do not sell products in advertisements
• Effect of television advertisements for foods on food consumption in children
• The effect of "thin ideal" television commercials on body dissatisfaction and schema activation during early adolescence

Now go ahead and try out your own search! If you have any questions about the CMCH Database of Research,  please do not hesitate to e-mail us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu.

Research Toolbox: CMCH Database- Advanced Search

The CMCH Database of Research (DoR) can be searched using three different tools: Advanced Search, Guided Search, and Browse by CMCH Subject. Today were are going to explore the Advanced Search function and try out an example search for violence and video games. 

• Step One: Go to the CMCH DoR Advanced Search page. Here you can enter your search criteria by typing the word(s) you’d like to search into the text boxes. You can narrow or broaden your search by connecting words using the Boolean operators OR, AND, NOT. Using the drop-down menu you can limit the fields that are searched to Subject term, Abstract, Title, Journal, Author, or Source of Funding or you can keep your search broad by choosing All fields. 

• Step Two: Searches can be limited by Age Group, Study Design, Publication Type, and Year. Simply click on the specific age group, study design, etc that you would like to limit your search to. You can choose as many or as few limits as you’d like. Also, you can limit your search to Peer-reviewed or CMCH Authors. 

• Step Three: After all your search criteria is entered click Search Now to see your results. If you have too many or too few results you can go back and revise your search to make it broader or narrower. For example if you did not get many search results try going back and taking out some the limits you put in place.  

Now let's try out a real search! 

Example: 

I’ve decided that I want to do a search about violence and video games:

1. I enter the word violence into a search box and enter video games into another search box.
2.  I change the Boolean operator to AND, so that I am doing a search for violence AND video games. 
3. I leave the drop-down menu on All fields. 

I’d like to see if there have been any peer-reviewed experimental studies done with adolescents in the last five years:

1. I select the age group limit Adolescence (13-17) and the study design limit Experimental Study.
2. I do not limit the search by Publication Type. 
3. I select the years 2007-2012 by clicking on 2007 and then holding down the computer’s control key to click on the other years. Lastly, I limit the search by Peer-reviewed studies.

 Below is a screenshot of my search criteria (click for bigger image): 

Here are the six search results I got from this search: 

• Hummer, T. A., Wang, Y., Kronenberger, W.G., et al. (2010). Short-term violent video game play by adolescents alters prefrontal activity during cognitive inhibition. Media Psychology, 13(2), 136- 154.

• Nije Bijvank, M., Konijn, E.A., Bush, B.J., & Roelofsma, P.H.M.P. (2009). Age and violent-content labels make video games forbidden fruits for youth. Pediatrics, 123(3), 870-876.

• Barlett, C., Branch, O., Rodeheffer, C. & Harris, R. (2009). How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggressive Behavior, 35, 225–236. 

• Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C.A., Yukawa, S., et al. (2009).  The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: International evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies.  Personality and  Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(6), 752-763. 

• Polman, H., de Castro, B. O. & van Aken, M. A. (2008). Experimental study of the differential effects of playing versus watching violent video games on children's aggressive behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 256–264. 

• Konijn, E. A.,  Nije Bijvank, M. & Bushman, B.  (2007). I wish I were a warrior: The role of wishful identification in the effects of violent video games on aggression in adolescent boys. Developmental Psychology, 43(4), 1038-1044.

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Now go ahead and try out your own search! If you have any questions about the DoR  please do not hesitate to e-mail us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu. 

CMCH Database of Research Survey

At CMCH, we are working hard to make the Database of Research (DoR) a valuable resource for researchers, media and health-related organizations. The DoR is a digital “library” that collects scholarly research on how media affect the physical, social and emotional health of children. The research included in the DoR comes from many different disciplines including medicine, public health, psychology, gender studies, education and several others.

We are looking for your feedback about the CMCH Database of Research. As we move forward, we would like to know more about how researchers interested in media and child health conduct literature searches, keep current on topics, and what resources they use to find information. 

We have created a quick survey to help us define next steps for the database and assess its value for the research community. We would appreciated if you could take a few minutes to fill out the survey, using the answer or answers that describe you most accurately.

There are 13 questions on this survey, and it should only take you about 10 minutes to complete: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CMCHDoR

Thank you from the CMCH Team!

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.

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.

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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-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.

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

 

Research Toolbox: My NCBI

 

Do you use My NCBI? For those who do not, it is a free tool provided by PubMed that allows users to:

• Create a personal account
• Save searches and citations
• Set up automatic e-mail alerts for specific searches
• Set or create unique filters to group search results
• Show links to free full-text articles
• And much more! Check out the PubMed Training page for more tutorials

Getting Started-it’s easy! Register for an account today!

More My NCBI Resources

PubMed My NCBI Pamplet: This pamphlet provides all the basic information about My NCBI (account registration, signing in and out) and highlights some features and tools (collections, saved searches, filters, e-mail alerts, etc). The same information can be found in the about section of the My NCBI website.

MIT Libraries Video Tutorial: This short video tutorial shows how to register for an account, save searches, set up e-mail alerts, and create filters.

PubMed Tutorial: The My NCBI section of this tutorial only explains how to set up an account and preferences but the entire tutorial may be of interest to those who want to learn how to search more effectively in PubMed.

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-February 8

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

Arvaniti, F., et al. (2011). Salty-snack eating, television or video-game viewing, and asthma symptoms among 10- to 12-year-old children: The PANACEA study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 111(2), 251-257.

• This study found that salty-snack consumption was positively associated with the hours of television/video-game viewing. Consumption of salty snacks (>3 times/week vs never/rare) was associated with a 4.8-times higher likelihood of having asthma symptom.

Coyne, S.M.; Padilla-Walker, L.M. ; Stockdale, L.;& Day, R.D. (2011). Game on...girls: Associations between co-playing video games and adolescent behavioral and family outcomes. The Journal of Adolescent Health. Published online February 3.

• The study authors found that co-playing video games with parents was associated with decreased levels of internalizing and aggressive behaviors, and heightened prosocial behavior for girls.

Dovey, T.M.; Taylor, L.; Stow, R.; Boyland, E.J.; & Halford, J.C. (2011). Responsiveness to healthy television (TV) food advertisements/commercials is only evident in children under the age of seven with low food neophobia. Appetite, Online jan 20

• This study found that children with low levels of food neophobia (fear of trying new foods) appear to respond to healthy food messages but children with higher levels of food neophobia do not. Instead, high food neophobic children will continue to consume more chocolate following exposure to food adverts irrespective of the healthy or unhealthy message they contain.

Kanthan, R. & Senger, J-L. (2011). The impact of specially designed digital games-based learning in undergraduate pathology and medical education. Arch Pathol Lab Med, 135(1),135-42.

• This study found that specially constructed digital games-based learning in undergraduate pathology courses showed improved academic performance engagement, increased student engagement, enhanced personal learning, and reduced student stress.

Morgenstern, M.; Isensee, B.; Sargent, J.D.; &  Hanewinkel, R. (2011).Exposure to alcohol advertising and teen drinking. Preventive Medicine, 52(2),146-151.

• This study found a positive association between exposure to alcohol advertising and multiple youth drinking outcomes, showing that the association is content-specific, not just a function of general ad exposure.

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

Research Toolbox: Recently Published Books

Recently published titles of interest on the topics of children, media, and health:

New Books

• Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture By Peggy Orenstein

The author offers a radical, timely wake-up call for parents, revealing the dark side of a pretty and pink culture confronting girls at every turn as they grow into adults.

• CyberSafe Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming, and Social by Media Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP.

This informative book will guide parents through the landscape of the digital world, helping them better understand things like the history and the future of the Internet, cyberbullying, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpaceGaming and virtual worlds and digital footprints.

• Mediated Girlhoods: New Explorations of Girls' Media Culture by Mary Celeste Kearney (Ed.)

This book is the first anthology devoted specifically to scholarship on girls' media culture. Taking a cultural studies approach, it includes analyses of girls' media representations, media consumption, and media production. The book responds to criticisms of previous research in the field by including studies of girls who are not white, middle-class, heterosexual, or Western, while also including historical research.

• Television Personalities: Stardom and the Small Screen by James Bennett 

This book examines how television personalities function as commodities, and also function ideologically, thus relating them to issues of class, national identity, sexuality, gender and social history.

• The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept with Her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale  by Susan Maushart  

The author embarked with her three teenagers on a six-month screen blackout (no cellphones, iPods, PCs, laptops, game stations, or television) to discover if the technology intended to stimulate and keep us virtually more connected was, as she suspected, making us actually more disconnected and distracted.

 
Please let us know if you would like to see any books highlighted in the future!

Research Wrap-Up: Recently Published Studies-January 13

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

Anderson, L. M. & Anderson, J. (2010). Barney and breakfast: Messages about food and eating in preschool television shows and how they may impact the development of eating behaviours in children. Early Child Development and Care,180(10), 1323-1336.

• This study  found that non-nutritious foods  that appear in preschool children’s television shows are as common as nutritious foods and the consumption of non-nutritious food is usually reinforced.

Becker et al. (2011). Social network media exposure and adolescent eating pathology in Fiji. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 198(1),43-50

• The authors found that social network media exposure was associated with eating pathology in this group of adolescent female ethnic Fijians.

Jordan, A.; Bleakley, A.; Manganello, J; Hennessy, M.; Steven,  R., & Fishbein, M. (2010). The role of television access in the viewing time of US adolescents. Journal of Children and Media,  4(4), 355-370.

• The authors found that for adolescents having greater access to TV (number of televisions in the home, having a bedroom TV, and subscribing to premium cable/satellite channels)  was significantly associated with increased television viewing time.

Mendelsohn, A.L., Dreyer, B.P. ; Brockmeyer, C.A.; Berkule-Silberman, S.B.; Huberman, H.S. & Tomopoulos, S.(2011). Randomized controlled trial of primary care pediatric parenting programs: Effect on reduced media exposure in infants, mediated through enhanced parent-child interaction. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med., 165(1), 42-48.

• This study found that exposure to Video Interaction Project intervention was associated with reduced total duration of media exposure compared with other interventions and control groups. Enhanced parent-child interactions were found to partially mediate relations between VIP and media exposure for families with a ninth grade or higher literacy level .

Sandberg, H.; Gidlof, K. & Holmberg, N.(2011). Children's exposure to and perceptions of online advertising. International Journal of Communication, 5, 21-50.

• The study results suggest that Swedish teenagers are exposed to 10% of all the potential advertisements, but they are mainly unaware of this actual exposure. Food advertisements had the highest impact. FULL TEXT.

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