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. 2014 May;103(5):546-52.
doi: 10.1111/apa.12588.

Children under the age of two are more likely to watch inappropriate background media than older children

Suzy Tomopoulos, Carolyn Brockmeyer Cates, Benard P Dreyer, Arthur H Fierman, Samantha B Berkule, Alan L Mendelsohn

Children under the age of two are more likely to watch inappropriate background media than older children

Suzy Tomopoulos et al. Acta Paediatr. 2014 May.

Abstract

Aim: To establish whether young children watched foreground electronic media or background media that was not aimed at them or was inappropriate for their age.

Methods: We performed a longitudinal analysis of mother-infant dyads participating in a larger parenting study. The primary dependent variable was maternal reports of watching habits from media diaries at 6, 14, 24 and 36 months. Independent variables were child age, programme content and whether the programme was turned on specifically for the child.

Results: We analysed 3570 programme exposures in 527 children, mostly from television. Children were significantly more likely to actually watch programmes if they were older, if the content was coded as 'educational young child' or if the parent tuned on the programme specifically so the child could watch it. Children under the age of two were more likely than older children to watch background media that featured age-inappropriate content or had not been turned on for them to watch [30% versus 16% of programmes; AOR = 2.19 (95%CI 1.82-2.65)].

Conclusion: Young children under the age of two frequently watch background media that has age-inappropriate content or has not been turned on for them to watch.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None of the authors have conflict of interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Proportion of programs intended for child (young childdirected content* and/or turned on for child) by age, among programs
Note. YC: Young child-directed; On for child: Turned on by parent for the child *Young child-directed includes young child-directed educational and non-educational media
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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