TV Exposure Linked to Aggression in Young Children
A new report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine concludes that the more television three-year-olds watch, the more aggressive they are.
Approximately 65 percent of families participating in a study reported their three-year-olds watched over two hours of television every day. In addition to this personal viewing, the children were also exposed to an additional 5.2 hours of general household TV use each day. The researchers determined that both direct watching of TV and general household TV use were significantly connected to childhood aggression.
One explanation is that homes with higher rates of TV use most likely have fewer restrictions about what children can watch — so children are probably being exposed to unregulated television content.
The conclusion of the researchers: “Current American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations mainly suggest limitations for direct child exposure to TV and other media; however, our findings suggest that additional household TV use may also be an important predictor of negative childhood outcomes, such as early childhood aggression.”
