PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Television”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Early television viewing is associated with protesting turning off the television at age 6.

BACKGROUND: The effects of early exposure to television remain poorly defined. Although some have speculated that television may be habit-forming, evidence is lacking especially in young children. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that television viewing in the first 4 years of life is associated with protesting having the television turned off at age 6. METHODS: We used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Parents reported how much television their children watched before the age of 4. They also reported how often their children protested having the television turned off at age 6. Their responses to this question were dichotomized to almost never vs other. Multivariate logistic regression was used to test the independent association of early television watching with subsequent protest at turning off the television, controlling for externalizing behavior scores at age 6, parenting style, and other covariates. RESULTS: Data were available for 1331 children. Sixty-three percent of children protested having the television turned off at age 6. In a logistic regression model, hours of television viewed per day before age 4 was associated with increased odds of protesting at age 6 (1.08 [1.02-1.15]). CONCLUSION: Early television exposure is associated with resistance to turning off the television at school age.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2000

[Television and children: is television responsible for all the evils attributed to it?].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze children's television viewing habits and their parents attitudes towards such viewing. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Primary care. PARTICIPANTS: A survey was undertaken with 317 three to fourteen year old children and their parents as part of the primary care check-up program for healthy children. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Time devoted to television viewing was 106 +/- 50 minutes on weekdays and 141 +/- 80 minutes weekends. Despite this, 49.2% of parents thought their children saw little television, especially those with children under six (57.6%). Children of parents in highly qualified positions and of parents in the uppermost socioeconomic group saw television the least, on non-working days (70 +/- 61 minutes and 144 +/- 78 minutes respectively, p < or = 0.0001). Some 71.9% of children watched television alone and 34% did so at meal-times. Altogether 48.3% of parents were unaware as to what their children watched and some 61.5% encouraged television viewing, above all those having children of under six (76%). The youngest children preferred to watch cartoons which were generally of a violent nature. For those aged from 11 to 14, 19.5% chose as their favorite programs those having a high level of violence. CONCLUSION: Television habits are an educational problem for parents, an important shake-up in their attitudes being called for, in which pediatricians should be involved in developing health programs aimed at proper use of the television.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Television viewing and age at smoking initiation: does a relationship exist between higher levels of television viewing and earlier onset of smoking?

This cross-sectional study of children assessed the association between television viewing and age at smoking initiation, using self-reports administered by research assistants in schools. Participants were 909 students in their first and fourth years of secondary education in a random sample of 15 secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium, who had smoked at least one cigarette. The main outcome measure was age at smoking initiation. The independent variable was weekly television viewing volume. Gender, educational level, parental smoking, and peer smoking were the control variables. The relationship between television viewing and age at smoking initiation was significant. Higher levels of television viewing were related to earlier onset of smoking behavior in adolescents. The relationship of television viewing with age at smoking initiation was stronger than that of peer smoking, parental smoking, and gender. For each hour of television viewing per day, the average smoking initiation age decreased by 60 days. Heavier television viewers start smoking at an earlier age. Two possible explanations for this relationship are suggested. Social learning theory suggests that actors and actresses serve as behavioral role models for heavy viewers. Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to positive messages influences smoking attitudes. Further research should examine whether the relationship is causal and whether television acts as a provider of smoking role models or whether it influences smoking attitudes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Life without TV? cultivation theory and psychosocial health characteristics of television-free individuals and their television-viewing counterparts.

Much attention has been paid to the amount of time Americans spend watching television. Cultivation theory has been important in exploring behavioral effects of television viewing for many years. However, psychosocial health has received much less scrutiny in relation to television viewing time. This investigation examined the hypotheses that television-free individuals and viewers adhering to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations (up to 2 hr of viewing per day) would display a more positive psychosocial health profile when compared with more frequent television viewers. Results confirmed the hypothesis for women, but not for men. Our analysis showed that moderate television viewing, as defined by the AAP, provides a similar relation with psychosocial health as being television-free. Results are discussed in a cultivation theory framework.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Gender stereotyping in television advertisements: a study of French and Danish television.

Two similar, but not identical, content analyses of the portrayals of men and women in French and Danish television advertisements are reported. By partially replicating and extending past investigations conducted in America, Australia, Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, and New Zealand, it was predicted that there would be more gender stereotyping in French television advertisements and less gender stereotyping in Danish television advertisements. In the first study, 165 French television advertisements were analyzed by following established coding categories (A. Furnham & E. Skae, 1997; L. Z. McArthur & B. G. Resko, 1975). Contrary to prediction, the results showed that traditional gender role portrayal on French television was no different from that found in other countries. Separate statistical analyses were carried out for visually versus aurally classified central figures, yet this yielded relatively few significant differences. In the second study, a sample of 151 Danish advertisements was analyzed; results showed that Danish television was generally less gender stereotypic than French television in its portrayal of women. Exactly half (5) of the coding categories showed significant differences. Finally, an international statistical comparison between these two studies and similar research in Australia, Britain, and Italy was carried out. The methodological implications of these results are discussed as well as the theoretical issues arising from other studies of this sort.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The implicit assumptions of television research: an analysis of the 1982 NIMH report on television and behavior.

The authors analyze some of the assumptions underlying most current research on television. They emphasize the dependence on (1) an individual rather than an institutional level of analysis; (2) a model of research utilization that pays little explicit attention to where sources of leverage lie for changes in programming; (3) extremely simple models of the selection processes associated with different levels of television viewing; and (4) uncritical appraisals of the consequences of effects that many would call small or modest. These issues are illustrated by a general discussion of the NIMH report on Television and Behavior and specific discussion of "mainstreaming" and the effects of television violence. In 1972, POQ's editors invited Leo Bogart to prepare an extended review article of the Surgeon-General's Study of Television and Social Behavior (POQ 36:491-521). When the 10-year follow-up study was released by NIMH in 1982, the editors asked Thomas D. Cook, a distinguished psychologist noted for his research on television, to perform the same function.

Child↗
PubMed2005

Sex on television and its impact on american youth: background and results from the RAND Television and Adolescent Sexuality study.

Many policy makers and parents have called for stricter regulation of television, fearing that the sexual content in this medium spurs adolescent sexual activity. Media theory and research over the last few decades are consistent with this notion but fall short of answering the question of whether television content is causally related to adolescent sexual behavior. This article briefly reviews this earlier work and discusses the results of several new studies based on the RAND Television and Adolescent Sexuality data set. Practitioners should discuss television use and television portrayals of sex with adolescents, and help youth to identity and avoid any adverse effects the media might have on their sexual development and sexual behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Flemish television: challenges to the television effects hypothesis.

BACKGROUND: People who watch a lot of medical fiction overestimate the success rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It has been suggested that this is because CPR is usually shown to be successful on television. This study analysed a popular Flemish medical drama series. Previous research showed that heavy viewing of this series was related to overestimation of CPR success. METHOD: Content analysis of 70 episodes of "Spoed" in the period between 2001 and the first three months of 2003. Causes and treatment of cardiac arrest and outcome of CPR were recorded in the same way as previous studies. RESULTS: CPR was performed 31 times in the 70 episodes. Only 19% of the patients survived the resuscitation attempt. Most patients were middle aged or older. Causes of arrest were different from those in British or American television series. CONCLUSIONS: The low survival rate challenges the idea that heavy viewers adopt the overestimation shown by television. Psychological research shows that people ignore base rate information in the shape of statistics, in favour of vivid, dramatic examples. Showing some impressive examples of success might therefore be more important than the overall success rate. It is suggested that the message of television fiction is that doctors are not powerless and that treatment does not stop once the heart stops beating. This helps to create what has been called an "illusion of efficacy".

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Do we fatten our children at the television set? Obesity and television viewing in children and adolescents.

The association of television viewing and obesity in data collected during cycles II and III of the National Health Examination Survey was examined. Cycle II examined 6,965 children aged 6 to 11 years and cycle III examined 6,671 children aged 12 to 17 years. Included in the cycle III sample were 2,153 subjects previously studied during cycle II. These surveys, therefore, provided two cross-sectional samples and one prospective sample. In all three samples, significant associations of the time spent watching television and the prevalence of obesity were observed. In 12- to 17-year-old adolescents, the prevalence of obesity increased by 2% for each additional hour of television viewed. The associations persisted when controlled for prior obesity, region, season, population density, race, socioeconomic class, and a variety of other family variables. The consistency, temporal sequence, strength, and specificity of the associations suggest that television viewing may cause obesity in at least some children and adolescents. The potential effects of obesity on activity and the consumption of calorically dense foods are consistent with this hypothesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Effects of contingent television on physical activity and television viewing in obese children.

OBJECTIVE: Elevated television (TV) viewing and physical inactivity promote obesity in children. Thus, changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior seem critical to treating childhood obesity. PRESENT STUDY: Using a randomized, 2-arm design, this pilot study tested the effects of contingent TV on physical activity and TV viewing in 10 obese children. TV viewing was contingent on pedaling a stationary cycle ergometer for experimental participants but was not contingent on pedaling for control participants. The study was conducted over 12 weeks, including a 2-week baseline period. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses indicated that the intervention significantly increased pedaling and reduced TV-viewing time. During the treatment phase, the experimental group pedaled 64.4 minutes per week on average, compared with 8.3 minutes by controls. The experimental group watched 1.6 hours of TV per week on average, compared with 21.0 hours per week on average by controls during this phase. Secondary analyses indicated that the experimental group showed significantly greater reductions in total body fat and percent leg fat. Total pedaling time during intervention correlated with greater reductions in percent body fat (r = -0.68). CONCLUSIONS: Contingencies in the home environment can be arranged to modify physical activity and TV viewing and may have a role in treating childhood obesity. Contingent TV may be one method to help achieve this goal.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2002

Television viewing and television in bedroom associated with overweight risk among low-income preschool children.

CONTEXT: Television (TV) viewing is associated with obesity among school-aged children, adolescents, and adults, but this relationship has not been evaluated in preschool-aged children. OBJECTIVE: To describe the TV/video viewing habits of a multiethnic, low-income preschool population of children and to determine whether TV/video viewing is related to their adiposity. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of parents/guardians with measurements of children's height and weight. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Two thousand seven hundred sixty-one adults with children, 1 through <5 years, from 49 New York State agencies of the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. OUTCOME MEASURES: Cross-sectional relationships between the amount of time the child spends viewing TV/video and the presence of a TV set in the child's bedroom, with the prevalence of overweight children (body mass index [BMI] >85th percentile) after adjustment for potential confounders. RESULTS: Mean TV/video viewing times were higher among black children and Hispanic children than white children and increased with the child's age. In multiple logistic regression, the odds ratio of children having a BMI >85th percentile was 1.06 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.004-1.11) for each additional hour per day of TV/video viewed, independent of child age, child sex, parental educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. Almost 40% of children had a TV set in their bedroom; they were more likely to be overweight and spent more time (4.6 hours per week) watching TV/video than children without a TV in their bedroom. In multiple logistic regression, the odds ratio of having a BMI >85th percentile was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.01-1.69) among those with a TV in their bedroom versus those without a TV, after statistical adjustment for child age, child sex, child TV/video viewing hours per week, maternal BMI, maternal education, and race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: This study extends the association between TV viewing and risk of being overweight to younger, preschool-aged children. A TV in the child's bedroom is an even stronger marker of increased risk of being overweight. Because most children watch TV by age 2, educational efforts about limiting child TV/video viewing and keeping the TV out of the child's bedroom need to begin before then.

Body Height↗