Abstract
BackgroundPrevious research has suggested that television (TV) viewing may be associated with increased behavioral and emotional problems in children. However, there are few prospective studies targeted for its association with outcomes of children under 3 years old. The purpose of this study was to exam the association between children’s early TV exposure at ages 18 and 30 months and the behavioral and emotional outcomes at age 30 months.MethodsWe analyzed data collected prospectively in the Japan Children’s Study. TV exposure was assessed by mothers’ report at infant ages of 18 and 30 months. The outcomes were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Analysis of Covariance was used to estimate the effect of TV exposure on behavioral and emotional outcomes.ResultsThe percentage of children who watched TV 4 hours or more per day was 29.4% at age 18 months, 24.5% at age 30 months, and 21% at both ages. Hyperactivity–inattention at age 30 months was positively associated with TV exposure at age 18 months, whereas prosocial behavior was negatively associated with hours of exposure even after adjustment. However, there were no significant differences in SDQ subscales according to daily hours of TV viewing at age 30 months.ConclusionsDaily TV exposure at age 18 months was associated with hyperactivity–inattention and prosocial behavior at age 30 months. However, the directly casual relation was not proved in the present study. Additional research considering the TV program content and exposure timing are needed to investigate the causal relation between TV viewing and behavioral outcome.
Highlights
Subjects This study relied on data collected prospectively as part of the Japan Children’s Study (JCS) project
We found that early TV exposure was associated with subsequent mental health problems, especially those of hyperactivity–inattention and prosocial behavior
The percentage of children watching TV 4 hours or more at the age of 18 months in our study is higher than another previous study of Japanese children,[30] where 12% of children fall into this category
Summary
Many adverse effects of television (TV) viewing on children and adolescents have been documented, including obesity,[1,2] aggressive behavior,[3,4,5] decreased physical activity,[6] behavioral problems,[7,8,9] and sleep disorders.[10,11]The effect of TV viewing on children’s developmental outcomes is likely to vary by age or neurodevelopmental stage of the child at the time of exposure, as well as by media content.[9,12] The newborn brain continues to develop rapidly through the initial years of life and considerable plasticity exists during this period.[13,14] Several studies have suggested that heavy TV exposure may have detrimental effects on behavior and social skills in early childhood, the results, to date, have been mixed.[7,15,16]The public health implications of early TV and video viewing are potentially great.[17,18,19] There are theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that the effects of media exposure on children’s development are more likely to be adverse before the age of about 30 months than later in chldhood.[7,9,20,21] Analyses have shown that TV viewing before age 3 years is associated with a deleterious effect on reading recognition and reading comprehension scores, with each additional hour/day leading to a reduction in scores of 0.31 and 0.58, respectively.[18]. The effect of TV viewing on children’s developmental outcomes is likely to vary by age or neurodevelopmental stage of the child at the time of exposure, as well as by media content.[9,12] The newborn brain continues to develop rapidly through the initial years of life and considerable plasticity exists during this period.[13,14] Several studies have suggested that heavy TV exposure may have detrimental effects on behavior and social skills in early childhood, the results, to date, have been mixed.[7,15,16]. Previous research has suggested that television (TV) viewing may be associated with increased behavioral and emotional problems in children. The purpose of this study was to exam the association between children’s early TV exposure at ages 18 and 30 months and the behavioral and emotional outcomes at age 30 months. Conclusions: Daily TV exposure at age 18 months was associated with hyperactivity–inattention and prosocial behavior at age 30 months. Additional research considering the TV program content and exposure timing are needed to investigate the causal relation between TV viewing and behavioral outcome
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