Matthew A. Lapierre

Background Television in the Homes of US Children

OBJECTIVE: US parents were surveyed to determine the amount of background television that their children are exposed to as well as to isolate demographic factors associated with increased exposure to background television. After this, we ask how certain home media practices are linked to children’s background television exposure. METHODS: US parents/caregivers (N = 1454) with 1 child between the ages of 8 months and 8 years participated in this study. A nationally representative telephone survey was conducted. Parents were asked to report on their child’s exposure to background television via a 24-hour time diary. Parents were also asked to report relevant home media behaviors related to their child: bedroom television ownership, number of televisions in the home, and how often a television was on in the home. RESULTS: The average US child was exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television on a typical day. With the use of multiple regression analysis, we found that younger children and African American children were exposed to more background television. Leaving the television on while no one is viewing and children’s bedroom television ownership were associated with increased background television exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Although recent research has shown the negative consequences associated with background television, this study provides the first nationally representative estimates of that exposure. The amount of exposure for the average child is startling. This study offers practitioners potential pathways to reduce exposure.

Associations between parenting, media use, cumulative risk, and children’s executive functioning

Objective: This study was designed to examine how parenting style, media exposure, and cumulative risk were associated with executive functioning (EF) during early childhood. Methods: A nationally representative group of US parents/caregivers (N = 1156) with 1 child between 2 and 8 years participated in a telephone survey. Parents were asked to report on their childs exposure to television, music, and book reading through a 24-hour time diary. Parents also reported a host of demographic and parenting variables as well as questions on their childs EF. Results: Separate multiple regressions for preschool (2–5 years) and school-aged (6–8 years) children grouped by cumulative risk were conducted. Parenting style moderated the risks of exposure to background television on EF for high-risk preschool-age children. Educational TV exposure served as a buffer for high-risk school-aged children. Cumulative risk, age, and parenting quality interacted with a number of the exposure effects. Conclusions: The study showed a complex pattern of associations between cumulative risk, parenting, and media exposure with EF during early childhood. Consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics, these findings support the recommendation that background television should be turned off when a child is in the room and suggest that exposure to high-quality content across multiple media platforms may be beneficial.

Child-directed and nutrition-focused marketing cues on food packaging: links to nutritional content.

OBJECTIVE We tested whether the presence of both child-targeted and nutrition-focused (i.e. parent-targeted) marketing cues on food packaging was associated with the nutritional content of these products. DESIGN We conducted a quantitative content analysis of 403 food packages chosen randomly from the supermarkets online portal along with all products (n 312) from the cereal aisle in a supermarket from the Southeastern USA. We examined main and interaction effects for cues on nutritional content (e.g. energy density, sugar, sodium, fibre). SETTING A regional supermarket chain in the Southeastern USA. RESULTS Tests of main effects indicated that increased presence of nutritional cues was linked to more nutritious content (e.g. less sugar, less saturated fat, more fibre) while the increased presence of child-targeted cues was uniformly associated with less nutritious content (e.g. more sugar, less protein, less fibre). Among the interaction effects, results revealed that products with increased nutrition-focused and child-targeted cues were likely to contain significantly more sugar and less protein than other products. CONCLUSIONS Products that seek to engage children with their packaging in the supermarket are significantly less nutritious than foods that do not, while product packages that suggest nutritional benefits have more nutritious content. More importantly, the study provides evidence that those products which try to engage both child and parent consumers are significantly less healthy in crucial ways (e.g. more sugar, less fibre) than products that do not.

Should It Stay or Should It Go Now? Smartphones and Relational Health.

Since introduced in the mid-2000s, smartphones have become widely used, particularly among young adults. With the ability to connect to others across numerous modalities and occupy one’s time, these devices have become personal extensions for many people. However, recent research suggests that young people are particularly likely to find these devices indispensable, even to the point of feeling that they cannot live without them. The current study tests whether smartphone use and smartphone dependency affects the health of romantic relationships among college-aged adults. Participants were asked to report on their own smartphone use and dependency as well as the perceived use and dependency of their partner. Results reveal that participants’ smartphone dependency is significantly linked to relationship uncertainty, while partners’ perceived smartphone dependency predicts less relationship satisfaction. Moreover, results suggest that smartphone use, in general, does not affect relational health. Thus, it appears that it is the psychological reliance on these devices, and one’s need to constantly be connected with his or her smartphone, that potentially affects relationships and not actual use.

The home literacy environment: exploring how media and parent-child interactions are associated with children’s language production

Children who start school with strong language skills initiate a trajectory of academic success, while children with weaker skills are likely to struggle. Research has demonstrated that media and parent–child interactions, both characteristics of the home literacy environment, influence childrens language skills. Using a national sample of American parents of children aged 8–36 months (n = 500), the current study evaluated how media and parent–child interactions are associated with childrens language skills. Results indicated a positive association between literacy-based parent–child interactions and childrens language production. The association between access to radios and childrens books was mediated by parent–child interactions. These results offer important implications for creating home interventions to boost the language abilities of children before entering school.

Assessing the Relationship Between Pediatric Media Guidance and Media Use in American Families

Objective. American parents were surveyed to isolate demographic factors that predict reliance on a pediatrician, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), or both for media guidance. We then investigated whether reliance on these resources resulted in different media practices with children. Methods. A nationally representative survey was conducted (n = 1454). Parents were asked what medical professionals they relied on for advice and reported relevant home media practices related to their child. Results. In all, 29% reported relying on their pediatrician, 24.9% said that they relied on the AAP, and 14.9% of all parents said they relied on both. Those following the AAP’s media guidelines were more likely to prohibit bedroom television and to follow all guidelines. Conclusions. The relatively low reliance on the AAP and pediatricians for media guidance suggest that more outreach is necessary. However, parents who report relying on the AAP for advice are more likely to enact these recommendations.

The effect of advertising on children and adolescents

In ∼100 years, marketing to children went from a severely frowned upon practice to an integral part of growing up as companies came to realize that investing in marketing to children and adolescents provides excellent immediate and future dividends. Each year, enormous sums of money are spent to reach this valuable audience because children and adolescents spend billions on their own purchases, influence family decisions about what to buy, and promise a potential lifetime of brand loyalty. The channels to reach youth have grown, and marketers are increasingly using them, often blurring the distinction between entertainment and advertising. Because advertising to children and adolescents has become ubiquitous, researchers who study its influence raise significant concerns about the practice, especially as it relates to dietary behavior, family conflict, marketer tactics, and children’s potential vulnerability as an audience. In this review by the Workgroup on Marketing and Advertising, we highlight the state of the research in this area and suggest that more research needs to be conducted on understanding the following: the effects of advertising exposure, how psychological development affects children’s responses to marketing, the problems associated with advertising in newer media, and how researchers, parents, and practitioners might be able to mitigate the most deleterious advertising effects. We then present avenues of future research along with recommendations for key stakeholders.

Learning to Love Guns? Gun-Based Gameplay’s Links to Gun Attitudes.

Although there is a long empirical record exploring links between violent videogame play and aggression, little is known about how these games potentially affect players’ political attitudes. Specifically, with firearms frequently featured in videogames, including games where players are required to use firearms to succeed during gameplay, it is worth examining whether players’ experience with firearms relates to their attitudes toward guns and gun policy. Utilizing the General Learning Model, this survey explores whether public policy outcomes regarding gun control and public safety are related to exposure to violent video games, first-person shooter games, and realistic gun controllers. Results show that increased exposure to first-person shooter games was related to more negative attitudes concerning gun control. In addition, more experience using realistic gun controllers was associated with negative attitudes toward gun control and greater support for the idea that greater gun availability can help guarantee public safety. Thus, video game exposure may shape the gun attitudes of young people in small but important ways.

Low-Income Child Consumers across Cultures: An Investigation of Children's Consumer Behavior in Three Diverse Communities in North America

Children are exposed to many commercial messages in a given year. Yet, not all child consumers are the same. The purpose of this study was to explore childrens consumer behavior, aged 3 to 8, in three diverse low-income communities. One set of children were from western Canada, one from rural Appalachia and the last from the urban northeast of the United States. The study tested whether there were differences across groups for parent-reported purchase requests and purchase related conflict. The results showed wide differences between these three sets of communities. Children from Canada made significantly fewer purchase requests and engaged in less conflict with parents, while the children from the urban northeast made the most purchase requests and experienced the greatest amount of purchase related conflict. The study further tested whether secondary variables accounted for this difference (e.g. television exposure, age). These variables could not account for the differences between communities.

Observing parent-child purchase related interactions in US-based retail environments: replication and extension

Abstract This study replicates and extends work by Buijzen and Valkenburg. We observed and coded purchase-related interactions of parent-child dyads in stores in the US, collected questionnaire data from them and collected questionnaire data from parents visiting stores without their children in order to assess external validity. The current study found key differences between families who bring their child to the store and those who do not. Observation and coding, which examined parent-child dyads with children between the ages of 2–12, also revealed that younger children exhibited more coercive behaviors than older children by begging, crying, and negative tone use; parent television viewing was related to child requests; and parent communication and control orientation as measured by the Buijzen Consumer Communication scale were linked to child consumer behavior.