Television Exposure as a Risk Factor for Aggressive Behavior Among 3-Year-Old Children

Does watching too much TV make young children more aggressive? A study in the November 2009 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests that there may be a relationship -- but TV watching is only one factor of many.

Given the potential importance of household TV use and the need to account for the many non-media factors that can influence aggression, the study was designed to assess the unique contribution of household TV use to aggression among 3-year-old children. Despite American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, about two-thirds (65%) of mothers in this study reported that their 3-year-old child watched more than 2 hours of TV per day. Higher levels of TV exposure for the child and for household TV use were associated with maternal depression, regular bedtime, witnessing violence, and neighborhood disorder. The level of aggression in the child increased for each additional hour he or she directly watched TV as well as for each additional hour the TV was on in the household. There were no threshold effects for the relationship between both TV variables and aggression score.