A novel content analysis framework for investigating young children’s television diets: results of a UK-based television content analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Screen time is increasingly pervasive in children’s lives and, despite shifts in screen usage, television remains pre-eminent, especially for young children. As such, viewing content merits investigation. The current study applied a novel coding scheme to assess the relative prominence of prosocial and antisocial content in 90 programmes watched by a sample of 180 British two-year-old children. As well as providing a framework for future use in television research, our study highlights the wide variance of prosociality in children’s programming. Future directions for coding and research are discussed. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Children’s television content has been under scrutiny for decades. Studies involving researcher-chosen content have shown links between prosocial content and young children’s prosocial behaviour, as well as between antisocial content and aggressive behaviour. b. Novel contributions: The current methodological brief outlines a novel coding scheme for investigating prosocial and antisocial content that young children view in their everyday lives, taking into account prosocial and antisocial behaviour, as well as format features of the television programmes. c. Practical implications: The current work can be utilized and adapted for research in diverse disciplines by investigators interested in how prosocial and antisocial content are associated with child behavioural outcomes.