Center on Media and Child Health

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?

Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these studies of interest that were recently added to our database.

Durham, Meenakshi Gigi. (2011). Blood, lust and love: Interrogating gender violence in the Twilight phenomenon. The Journal of Children and Media, 6(3), 281-299.

• The researcher investigated the popular YA book series The Twilight Saga and looked at gender stereotypes and dating activities and customs. The author considered what influence the gender roles in the series might have on its readers.

Lwin, May O., & Malik, Shelly. (2011). The role of media exposure, peers, and family on body dissatisfaction amongst boys and girls in Singapore. Journal of Children and Media, 6(1), 69-82.

• Researchers surveyed 10- to 13-year-old children in Singapore to learn about their body image and body dissatisfaction. They found that both parents and peer groups have an effect on tweens and early adolescents' body image, as does media exposure.

McDermott, Jeanne T. (2011). Getting it on: An examination of how contraceptives are portrayed in young adult literature. Young Adult Library Services, 9(4), 47-53.

• The author of this study, a youth services librarian, analyzed the content of 25 YA novels published between 1995 and 2010 to determine what types of portrayals of contraceptive use each book contained. She determined that fiction alone was not a good enough resource for teens.

Mossle, Thomas, et al. (2010). Media use and school achievement--boys at risk? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(pt 3), 699-725.

• In this study, researchers looked at the connection between media use and academics. They found that boys who used media frequently were more likely than girls to have lower school achievement, especially when video and computer games were involved. They also found that children whose schools had a media literacy education program were more likely to have high achievement.

Wansink, B., et al. (2012). Can branding improve school lunches? Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 166(10), 967-968.

• This letter from the researchers described an experiment in which schoolchildren were given branded and unbranded food items, healthy and unhealthy, in an effort to determine whether the presence of a recognizable character, such as Elmo, would make them more likely to choose a certain item.

To find more studies on children, media, and health, click here to search our database.

New studies in the CMCH Database of Research

Check out these studies recently added to the CMCH database:

Bergen, D., & Davis, D. (2011). Influences of technology-related playful activity and thought on moral development. American Journal of Play, 4(1), 80-99.

• Developmental psychologists and early childhood educators are often big proponents of play, as it promotes healthy social and behavioral development, as well as having indicators for physical activity and later academic success. In this article, researchers consider how traditional play often falls by the wayside these days in favor of technological games and forms of play. In a review of current online and computer-based play environments, the researchers offer suggestions and frameworks for future research on how new forms of play contribute to moral development in children.

Carstensen, T. (2009). Gender trouble in Web 2.0: Gender perspectives on social network sites, wikis and weblog. International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology, 1(1), 106-127. 

• This study looks at how people negotiate gender identity on the Internet, especially in Web 2.0 applications like blog platforms and social networking sites. The author looked at feminist theories and gender studies theories that informed this study and then considered how Web 2.0 tools allowed for creative navigating of gender identities or how other applications force a gender binary and therefore exclude individuals of queer or other identities. The author concluded by positing what these tools and structures do to the psyches and activities of web users, especially young women.

Garrison, M.M., & Christakis, D.A. (2012). The impact of a healthy media use intervention on sleep in preschool children. Pediatrics, 130(3), 1-8.

• Doctors and parents are aware that media has an association with the quality of sleep in children and adolescents, but little research has been done to determine whether it is a causal relationship. This randomized trial looked at the effects of a healthy media intervention by asking parents to substitute violent or scary media with educational and prosocial media, and then reports on sleep quality and telephone interviews were gathered. The researchers found that there was indeed a causal relationship between media and sleep.

Opree, S.J., Buijzen, M., & Valkenburg, P.M. (2012). Lower life satisfaction related to materialism in children frequently exposed to advertising. Pediatrics, published online August 2012: 

• In this study, researchers strove to uncover the causality behind life satisfaction and materialism, focusing on children. Interestingly, they found that children satisfied with life had decreased materialism, but not vice versa. By comparing their data with research on this topic done with adults, they were able to offer conclusions and possible interventions.

To find more research on children, youth, media, and health, check out the CMCH database.

Recently Published Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these recently published studies available in the CMCH database.

Backett-Milburn, K., & Jackson, S. Children's concerns about their parents' health and wellbeing: Researching with ChildLine Scotland. Children & Society, 26(5): 381-393.

• Children use media for a variety of reasons, including, as this study shows, to learn or talk about their parents' own health. This study followed the work of ChildLine Scotland, which handles unsolicited calls from children, and looked at the way children react to, cope with, or take care of their parents' health issues. It yielded interesting data on the topics most affecting children and their parents as well as how and why they seek help over the phone.

Gao, Z. Motivated but Not Active: The Dilemmas of Incorporating Interactive Dance Into Gym Class. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 9(6): 794-800.

• The trend today is to tout exergames as an excellent, 21st century-friendly way to get young people to incorporate exercise into their daily lives. In this study of school physical education courses using the game Dance Dance Revolution, the researcher found that students were certainly motivated to play the game and enjoy the physical activity that came with it, but that the levels of exertion were still lower than desireable until they reached a high level of mastery with the game. Conclusions indicate that such games, while fun, are not sufficient as a sole method of physical activity.

McLaughlin, M., et al.  2012. A videosharing social networking intervention for young adult cancer survivors. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2): 631-641.

• Clinicians are familiar with the challenges of helping adolescents transition from pediatric care to adult care. This study focuses on the experiences of teen cancer survivors and discusses their specific challenges and needs, finally leading to an explanation of a videosharing program that allowed the teens to network and share coping strategies and life stories with other survivors.

Pinkleton, B.E., et al. The role of media literacy in shaping adolescents' understanding of and responses to sexual portrayals in mass media. Journal of Health Communication, 17(4): 460-476.

• This study showcased one of the many ways that that educators and physicians must share the burden and collaborate in interventions addressed towards adolescents, health, and media use. Researchers conducted a study of teens who had participated in a media literacy educational program, as well as a control group who hadn't, that looked how teens seek out and respond to media about sexuality, sexual intercourse, and sexual health. Qualitative and quantitative results are presented, and the study found that this was a good way to target both girls and boys with good results.

Shechtman, Z., & Abu Yaman, M. SEL as a Component of a Literature Class to Improve Relationships, Behavior, Motivation, and Content Knowledge. American Educational Research Journal, 49(3): 546-567.

• This study looked at connections between literature and emotional health and learning. The researchers assumed that emotional competencies lead to better coping skills, academic achievement, and mental health. By using classroom teachers and students, the researchers found that "affective teaching" of literature led to positive results for students.

Looking for other studies? Use the CMCH Free Database of Research to find them.

Recently Published Studies on Children, Media, and Health

Check out these recently published titles of interest on the topics of children, media, and health:

Beasley, N., et al. (2012). The Quest To Lava Mountain: Using video games for dietary change in children. The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, available online 6 July 2012.

• This study looked at the effects on elementary school children of an educational video game aimed at combatting obesity and bad eating habits. The game used stealth learning techniques and incorporated concepts about nutrition, sustainable farming, and physical activity to teach children healthy lifestyle practices.

Chatterjee, K. & Markham Shaw, C. (2012). Media portrayals of the female condom. Journal of Health Communication, available 9 July 2012.

• This study of sixteen years of advertising looks at positive and negative depictions of the female condom in broadcast and print media. The researchers discuss the implications of these portrayals and their effect on young women aged 15 to 24 and look at statistics on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to determine their relationships to advertising and health literacy.

Christakis, D.A., et al. (2012). Improving parental adherence with asthma treatment guidelines: A randomized controlled trial of an interactive website. Academic Pediatrics, 12(4), 302-311.

• This study tracked parents of asthmatic children for six months as they learned to use an interactive website to track children's asthma symptoms and treatment. As parents inputted information into the website, they received tailored suggestions for further treatment. The study found that this was helpful in controlling children's symptoms.

Gopinath, B., et al. (2012). Physical activity and sedentary behaviors and health-related quality of life in adolescents. Pediatrics, 130(1), 167-174.

• Researchers looked into associations between physical activity and sedentary activity, like video game watching, to assess the health quality of life in adolescents. Findings indicate that more sedentary activity is associated with less physical activity, and researchers hope to improve their understanding in order to create effective interventions.

Ortega, R., et al. (2012). The emotional impact of bullying and cyberbullying on victims: A European cross-national study. Aggressive Behavior, available July 2012.

• This study strove to identify the difference between "traditional" bullying and 21st-century cyberbullying through cell phones and the Internet. Researchers defined emotional profiles for victims of both types of bullying based on type of bullying, gender, age, and other demographics.

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

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. 

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.

Recent Questions on Ask the Mediatrician

If you haven't checked out Ask the Mediatrician lately, head on over to see these and other recent questions from parents and answers from Dr. Michael Rich, Director of CMCH:

• My son wants Call of Duty, but how do these games affect teen boys?
• Will my preschooler fall behind if she doesn't learn how to use the computer?
• Does multitasking with media distract kids from homework?

If you know of a website whose audience could benefit from the free Ask the Mediatrician service, send the webmaster these simple steps to add an Ask the Mediatrician button like the one below!

Using Digital Games to Improve Children's Learning and Health

How can we best use digital games to improve children's learning and health?  A new report entitled Game Changer: Investing in digital play to advance children's learning and health, by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, tackles this question with renewed vigor.

Digital games have been shown to aid in learning in particular contexts, but the question of how far this potential goes has yet to be fully explored. For that reason, in addition to discussing specific games that encourage physical health, development of healthy long-term habits, and disease management, the report calls for strategic investment in this field to maximize the potential of this technology.

The report also outlines a strategy of research and development, innovative partnerships, support for the adults who guide children's digital lives, modernization of public media, and increased public dialogue about digital media.