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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study by Singer et al. was to examine the ways in which children's family life and TV viewing combine to predict aspects of their conscious experience as well as their social interaction patterns and behavior.
METHODOLOGY:
A quasi-experimental design was employed using 63 children whose average age was four when data were first obtained in 1977. When final data were obtained in 1982, the average age was close to nine. Initially, the children had been observed during play and rated on their aggressiveness. Parents had maintained detailed TV logs for at least three two-week periods during the previous year. The average weekly TV viewing was 24 hours. In 1980, mothers filled out the Hoffman Child rearing questionnaire which included a series of items about discipline and control, power assertion, physical punishment, and forceful control of the child. Mothers described in detail the family's daily routines, and activities. The measure of parental values was derived from a multitrait-multimethod analysis of self descriptions. The variables "hours of sleep" and "emphasis on outdoor activities" were also included. Parents were also asked about the family's use of TV and any restrictions they put on their children. The children were interviewed and tested for cognitive skills, IQ, and knowledge of TV characters. In 1982, the children came to the Yale TV Center for further interviews and to complete a "Scary World" questionnaire. Dependent variables were beliefs about the world (high scores indicate "scary world"), physical aggressiveness, behavior in school (high score indicates the child has been disruptive), and motor activity (high score indicates self restraint and lack of restlessness). Multiple regression was used to analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate how much combined family and TV variables could predict the scores on the dependent variables. Belief system showed significant positive correlations with TV environment (p<.001) and IQ (p<.05). Belief system also showed significant negative correlations with family involvement in cultural activities. There were significant positive correlations between physical aggression and TV environment, realistic action-adventure viewing (p<.01), power assertive child-rearing (p=.01), and male gender. In entering the "baseline level" of the independent variable initially into the equation, later aggression is significantly predicted by a combination of heavier viewing of violent TV shows, preschool heavy TV viewing, and a family that emphasizes physical discipline and assertion of power. Poor school behavior adjustments showed significant positive correlations with TV environment (1980, 1981, and 1982) and realistic action TV viewing (1982) (p<.01). Restlessness showed positive significant correlations with TV environment (1980, 1981), fantasy action TV (1982) (p<.01), and realistic action TV viewing (1981) (p<.01). With the TV environment 1980 variable entered, IQ, realistic TV viewing, fantasy action TV viewing, the TV environment variable, and mother's self-rating as resourceful (negative) combine to yield a multiple R of .51. For 1981 the multiple R is .55. In general, when various controls are taken into account, heavy TV viewing is significantly associated with elementary school children's later aggressive behavior, restlessness, and belief in a cruel world.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested that parents, educators and the media industry take a serious look at the possible consequences for the early school-age child of unrestrained viewing of violence on TV.
EVALUATION:
This study has a strength in being a longer term study than most experiments. A sample of 63 is a large enough one to draw correlations from, though the usual weaknesses of experiments do apply here--artificiality, possibility of a narrow population for generalization, and other impact of the experiment itself. The measures hinged chiefly on parental reports--which the authors argue would underestimate occurrence. However, the possibility of sensitization of the parents to the condition of being part of an experiment cannot be overlooked, for whatever effect it may have. The authors argue for a restraint of the child's exposure which, in some respects may work, but still does not get at the heart of the process through which violence on television affects youth. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - 1970s
KW - 1980s
KW - Child Aggression
KW - Child Development
KW - Television Viewing
KW - Television Violence
KW - Media Violence Effects
KW - Exposure to Violence
KW - Family Relations
KW - Aggression Causes
KW - Child Perceptions |