Children's television-viewing habits and the family environment
H. L. Taras, J. F. Sallis, P. R. Nader and J. Nelson
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093.
Pediatricians are encouraged to modify the impact of television on
children, based on the assumption that parents mediate children's viewing
habits through the home environment. Sixty-six parents of children aged 3
to 8 years responded to an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
Responses to questions on family environment were compared with reported
childhood viewing of educational programming (Public Broadcasting Service)
and the child's television-viewing hours. Most homes surveyed had a
videocassette recorder, cable television, and more than one television set.
Frequent parental discussion of program content with children was reported
by 38% of respondents. Availability of television and parent-child
discussion of content were not correlated with viewing hours or viewing
Public Broadcasting Service. Frequent use of television as a distraction
for the child correlated positively with viewing hours. Viewing Public
Broadcasting Service correlated negatively with parent-child coviewing and
with use of television as a form of entertainment. Children's own
television viewing content correlated positively with viewing Public
Broadcasting Service. Of all measured factors in the home environment,
parental attitudes were most closely associated with children's viewing
habits.
