American Children's Screen Time: Diminished Returns of Household Income in Black Families.

Shervin Assari

doi:10.3390/info11110538

Abstract

While increased household income is associated with overall decreased screen time for children, less is known about the effect of racial variation on this association. According to Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) theory, family income and other economic resources show weaker association with children's developmental, behavioral, and health outcomes for racialized groups such as black families, due to the effect of racism and social stratification. In this study, we investigated the association, by race, between family income and children's screen time, as a proxy of screen time. This longitudinal study followed 15,022 American children aged 9-11 over a 1-year period. The data came from the baseline of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was family income, and it was categorized as a three-level nominal variable. The dependent variable, screen time, was a continuous variable. Ethnicity, gender, parental education, and marital status were the covariates. The results showed that family income was inversely associated with children's screen time. However, there was a weaker inverse association seen in black families when compared with white families. This was documented by a significant statistical interaction between race and family income on children's screen time. Diminished association between family income and children's screen time for black families, compared with white families, is similar to MDRs and reflects a health risk to high-income black children. In a society where race and skin color determine opportunities and treatment by society, children from middle class black families remain at risk across multiple domains. We should not assume that income similarly promotes the health of all racial and ethnic groups. Addressing health and behavioral inequalities requires interventions that go beyond equalizing socioeconomic resources for black families. Marginalization, racism, and poverty interfere with the normal family income-related development of American children.

Highlights

The associations between race [1], socioeconomic status (SES) [2,3,4], and health behaviors are very complex [5,6,7]
The results showed that family income was inversely associated with children’s screen time
This paper extends the previous work on the Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) of family income and screen time in black children

Summary

Introduction

The associations between race [1], socioeconomic status (SES) [2,3,4], and health behaviors are very complex [5,6,7]. Racial minorities (e.g., blacks) and low SES children show high-risk behaviors and poor health statuses [8,9]. Some of the black–white differences in high-risk behaviors are not an effect of race, but the existing SES gap across racial groups. A low SES may partially explain why race or ethnicity is linked to behavior and health [11]. Some evidence suggests that SES effects may depend on race or ethnicity, with the effects having a tendency to be weaker for black than white families [12]. This pattern is commonly known as Minorities’ Diminished

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