Parent Perspectives on Their Young Child’s Television Viewing

Becca Calhoun

Background Childhood television viewing has been associated

with increased aggression, sleep disturbance, obesity, and attentional disorders.

AAP recommends no TV for children under age 2 & no more than 1-2 hours of educational programming for children over 2.

2/3 of children under 6 live in households where the TV is on 50% of the time & 36% in homes where the TV is on “all the time”.

Parents mediate both the content and the amount of television their child watches and most parents have either content or time rules for their children.

Main: How do parents of young children use television in their daily lives, what do they believe about it and what would be challenging for them about reducing their child’s television intake?

Secondary: What aspects of the television reduction intervention and design work well for parents? What aspects are overly burdensome or unacceptable?

Research Questions

Parent’s Beliefs about Television

Parent’s Self-Efficacy

Family and Social Environment

Amount of TV Watched by

Child

Child Characteristics

Conceptual Model

Parents Recruited From Community

& Enrolled

BaselineQuestionnaire &

Consent Forms Mailedto interested families

Randomization

ControlInitial interview

Consent ObtainedBaseline Data Collected

IntensiveInitial Interview

Consent ObtainedBaseline Data Collected

Monthly NewsletterChildren’s Book

TV Allowance DeviceOngoing Support via Research Assistant

StandardInitial Interview

Consent ObtainedBaseline Data Collected

Monthly NewsletterChildren’s Book

Weekly TV Diariesfor 4 months

Exit Interview Conducted

Initial Interview Context & Coding Conducted in the parent’s home Approximately an hour long With children present Semi-structured questions

What do you think about your child’s television viewing?

Direct quotes were noted at the time of interview

Interview notes coded using Atlas.ti

Findings – Parental Beliefs 19 parents expressed only negative views

“(TV is) not a good use of kids time and I feel they can learn better from almost any other activity.”

“I don’t like the marketing to kids.”

9 expressed mixed views “I have mixed feelings about it because I feel it is a nice

tool to have, but doesn’t become a babysitter.”

2 expressed only positive views “I like the Disney Channel and PBS and sometimes Nick.

I like the content.”

Reasons for Child Watching TV

Opinion of TV

Parent Break (15)“(I use it to) sometimes to give me a break, to get something done.”

Negative (8)Positive (1)Mixed (6)

Transitional Activity (11)“I use it in the morning and evening to ease into the day and to wind down.”

Negative (7)Positive (0)Mixed (4)

Family Activity (4)“On Friday nights the whole family watches a movie together.”

Negative (1)Positive (0)Mixed (3)

Educational (3)“I’m fascinated at what tools TV can provide. Like the sequential path on Sesame Street shows you how to go about something.”

Negative (1)Positive (1)Mixed (1)

Popular Culture (2)“I don’t want him to be isolated if his friends talk about TV.”

Negative (2)Positive (0)Mixed (0)

Reward for Child (2)“I don’t like her to watch TV. I use it as a reward system.”

Negative (2)

Findings – Challenges to TV Reduction Parent Lacks Time and/or Energy (21)

“When I need time to get something done.”

“I’d have to be awake & “on” a lot sooner in the morning, that would be hard because I’m sleepy when I get up.”

Child Demands TV (7) “Them wanting to watch and having a battle of wills -

that would be hard.”

No Alternative (6)

No Challenges (3)

Reduction in Family Time (1)

One More Finding… Four parents volunteered that they had

recently significantly reduced TV by moving the television set to a less prominent location.

“The TV is down in the basement so it’s not in their face all the time. If they don’t see it, they don’t want to watch it as much.”

Limitations No interview transcripts Small sample size Recruitment bias based on advertising of

“Kids & TV Study”

Conclusions Parent stress level and perceived need to

use the TV to occupy the child may be a more important factor in determining how much a child watches than the parent’s beliefs about TV.

Interventions to reduce TV may need to address parental stress to be successful.

Additional research should be conducted to determine the role of TV location.

Thank you! Fred Zimmerman, PhD Dimitri Christakis, MD MPH Lyn Bassett The Study Parents & Kids Karen & Mom The ’06 MCH cohort

This work was funded by a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act), grant # T76MC00011-21-00.

Questions?