Television Exposure in Pre-School Children

Television Exposure in Pre-School Children (2 to 6 Years of Age) and Aggressive Behaviors

Viewing violence on television has a greater impact on boys who are preschool age than it has on girls at the same age and additionally, the impact of viewing violence on television also shifts across racial and ethnic boundaries depending upon the socialization of the child and the impact of that socialization upon viewing violence in television media.

While it is generally believed that viewing violence on television tends to make all individuals more aggressive, the truth is that boys are more likely to develop aggressive behavior due to violent programming of television when that violent television programming is viewed at the preschool age. The work of Josephson (1995) entitled: "Television Violence: A Review of the Effects on Children or Different Ages" relates that the preschooler is "predisposed to seek out and pay attention to televised violence because such violence accompanied by formal features such as loud music, rapid movement, rapid scene changes, and sound effects that attract the attention of preschoolers. The violent content itself is conveyed visually, making it especially likely that preschoolers will learn it easily. Furthermore, preschoolers; are unlikely to pick up on more subtly conveyed mitigating information such as negative motivations, punishing consequences that occur at another point in time, or the suffering of victims, making it unlikely that they will be able to put the violence in context."

METHODOLOGY

The methodology of this study is one of a qualitative nature, which will be conducted through an extensive review of the literature examining studies relating to television violence and the development of behavioral aggression.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The work of Reebye (2005) entitled: 'Aggression During Early Years - Infancy and Preschool" reports a review that examined the meaning and origins of aggression in early years." Reebye states that aggression during early childhood is generally "not taken seriously and is often considered part of growing up." (2005) There are various ways to understand aggression and for example, "it can be conceptualized as a personality trait or having origins within a difficult temperament. In other words, aggression may be inherent to the individual." (Reebye, 2005) Secondly, aggression may be viewed as being reflective of some type of behavioral pattern "that can be attributed to a symptom." Third stated is that aggression "identifies it is a symptom with or without intention or adaptive function." (Reebye, 2005)

It is agreed upon among clinicians and researchers that 'problematic expression of aggression is related to disinhibition and poor self-regulation. As capacity for self-regulation and inhibition is being modulated in the first 30 months the frequency of physical aggression increases and then decreases steadily." (Reebye, 2005) Reebye states that underlying aggression is often "poor impulse control." (Reebye, 2005) Regulatory controls being gradual development in the prenatal period along with physiological or state regulation, attentional mastery and emotional regulation and this is especially true of "self-soothing or seeking help when upset." (Reebye, 2005) Cognitive competence, or alternatively, cognitive limitations may either increase or decrease the self-regulatory capacity, respectively.

It is acknowledged by the literature that aggression which begins at an early age "continue throughout development." (Reebye, 2005) Reebye states that there are eight pathways to aggression and that the first of these are 'individual factors'. Findings show that preschoolers who were exposed prenatally to alcohol were "hyperactive, have frequent temper tantrums and have difficulties with transitions." (Reebye, 2005) Additionally, it has been demonstrated in research that "antisocial behavior with hypo sensitivity to stress is correlated with lower levels of corticotropic release hormone during pregnancy." (Reebye, 2005) it is also noted that there are gender differences in aggression in that "girls tend to engage in relational aggression while males tend to display overt aggression." (Reebye, 2005)

The second pathway to aggression is stated by Reebye (2005) to be 'disturbed family dynamics, parental characteristics, and parenting practices" and it is stated that there are "both direct and indirect effects of disturbed family dynamics on aggression. Parental characteristics are connected to a child's behavior problems and to the promotion of a child's healthy development." (Reebye, 2005) Additionally siblings who are a target for aggression are an indirect effect, which "increases the risk of becoming physically aggressive in the high aggression trajectory group." (Reebye, 2005)

Stated as direct risk factors in the high aggression trajectory group are the following:

1) maternal age;

2) alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy;

3) maternal antisocial history during school years; antisocial fathers and inter-parental conflict.

Also noted as aggressive risk factors were mother-related factors of:

1) non-responsive parenting;

2) difficulty in parenting;

3) inability to control the child; or 4) the use of coercive control, harsh discipline or shame and humiliation. (Reebye, 2005)

Stated as the third pathway to development of aggression is that of 'exposure to violence and behavioral aggression'. Reebye relates that children who witness violence are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior. Insofar as aggression being related to violence in the media, it is related that "the results are mixed regarding the effects of TV viewing by preschoolers. The important findings suggest that when a program provokes aggressive fantasies, preschoolers seem to be most susceptible. The impact of aggressive content can be toned down if children view TV with a trusted adult who can guide them. Studies have suggested a causal direction from heavy TV viewing to aggressive behavior." (Reebye, 2005)

The fourth pathway is stated to be 'living in violent neighborhoods' and that these children "face a two-fold problem":

1) these children lack prosocial adult role models to guide them; and 2) and they do not have the opportunity to develop internalized self-control through developmentally appropriate play.

Absence of competent, involved caregivers to provide supervision induces some children to create their own pseudocommunity and acquire protection elsewhere through antisocial groups. Community violence is shown to affect the violent behavior of preschoolers in a differential manner. Those who witness violence seem to show internalized symptoms while those children who were victimized by violence exhibit externalizing behaviors." (Reebye, 2005) the fifth stated pathway to aggression development in preschoolers is that of 'attachment relationships" which is the "cornerstone for security and comfort." (Reebye, 2005)

Reebye relates that attachment relationships are critical in the promotion of "experience dependent brain maturation." (2005) This is stated to be because the "care giving experiences provided accelerate neuronal activity and synaptic connections. The care giving experiences provided accelerate neuronal activity and synaptic connections."(Reebye, 2005) the child who is "disorganized in attachment experiences frightened, frightening or disoriented behavior from the caregiver. This attachment pattern is found to be associated with childhood aggression." (Reebye, 2005) the sixth pathway to development of aggression is stated to be related to "psychiatric medical syndrome." (Reebye, 2005) Reebye states that aggressive behavioral patterns "span different diagnoses in preschoolers." (2005)

The seventh pathway to development of aggression in preschoolers is stated to be that of 'neurodevelopmental pathways influencing self-regulation and especially impulse control'. Reebye states that "toddlerhood marks one of the most important periods in the acquisition of self-control." (2005) the eighth and final pathway stated in the work of Reebye is that of 'psychodynamic models' in which the child may not be aggressive whatsoever and the caregiver somehow views the child as being violent and unable to control." (Reebye, 2005) This may be due to the fact that the caregiver is unable to teach the child self-modulation techniques.

The work entitled: "Watching Violent TV at Pre-School Age Linked to Aggression in Young Boys" relates that watching television programs that are violent "between the ages of 2 and 5 years of age is clearly linked to aggressive and antisocial behaviors in boys when they reach age 7 to 9 according to a new study published in the November 2007 issue of Pediatrics." (Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, 2008) it is related that Christakis and Zimmerman of Seattle's Children's Hospital Research Institute "add these findings on the effects of television and media on children and their ability to learn, socialize and develop." (Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, 2008)

In the study, television programming such as football, many cartoons and titles like Power Rangers, Star Wars, Space Jam and Spider Man were all classed as violent entertainment because characters fight or flee from violent situations, laugh or cheer as they rejoice in violent acts, and show more violence than would be expected in the everyday life of a child. Even G-rated films intended for children can be filled with violence and classed as violent entertainment, according to this definition. By contrast, shows considered non-violent included programs like Toy Story, Flintstones and Rugrats. A third category of educational programming was also reviewed, such as Barney, Sesame Street, Magic School Bus and Winnie-the-Pooh. Significantly, the correlation to later aggressive and anti-social behaviors in boys only appeared with those shows and programming rated as violent." (Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, 2008)

It is additionally stated that it was related in a companion journal article entitled: "Association between Content Types of Early Media Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems" that "for children under age 3, each hour per day spent watching violent television was associated with approximately twice the risk of attention problems five years later. There was also significant risk of increased attention problems associated with watching nonviolent television for the same age group, but no risk was associated with viewing educational programming. Older children ages 4 and 5 showed no increased risk five years later for attention problems from watching violent or non-violent programs. This second study was based on data collected from parents of 933 children and shows that the effect of violent television content on attention problems is much higher than previously estimated when program content was not identified." (Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, 2008)

The work of Josephson (2005) entitled: "Television Violence a Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages" states that children at the preschool age, or between three and five years of age "...begin watching television with an "exploration" approach. They actively search for meaning in the content, but are still especially attracted to vivid production features, such as rapid character movement, rapid changes of scene, and intense or unexpected sights and sounds. Because television violence is accompanied by vivid production features, preschoolers are predisposed to seek out and pay attention to violence - particularly cartoon violence. It is not the violence itself that makes the cartoons attractive to preschoolers, but the accompanying vivid production features. With this preference for cartoons, preschoolers are being exposed to a large number of violent acts in their viewing day. Moreover, they are unlikely to be able to put the violence in context, they are likely to miss any subtlety conveyed mitigating information concerning motivation and consequences. Preschoolers behave more aggressively than usual in their play after watching any high-action exciting television content, but especially after watching violent television." (Josephson, 2005)

March 2007 report published by Reuters News entitled: "Screen Violence Tied to Boy's Aggression: Study" relates that boys in the range of ages 2 to 5 "who viewed an hour of on-screen violence a day increased their chances of being overly aggressive later in childhood, but the association was not seen in girls..." (Reuters, 2007) This study reports that: "...the association between violent programming and overly aggressive behavior was not found among the 146 girls in the study, who tended to watch more educational and nonviolent shows than the boys." (Reuters, 2007)

It is related in the work entitled: "Television Viewing and Aggression: Some Alternative Perspectives" "The effect of media violence on behavior is not only an interesting psychological question but is also a relevant public policy and public health issue. Although many studies have been conducted examining the link between violence on TV and aggressive behavior, most of these studies have overlooked several other potentially significant factors, including the dramatic context of the violence and the type of violence depicted as well as the race and ethnicity of the viewers." (Reuters, 2007) Findings are related after the conduction of a study reported in "Perspective on Psychological Science" journal in September 2008 that a correlation was found to exist "between watching violent TV and lower academic performance in African-American males..." (Reuters, 2007)

It is related that the data in this study "raise the possibility that processes competing with or overriding the aggression stimulating or aggression modeling effects of viewing violence on television may be more salient for African-American males." For example, viewing TV shows where violent behavior is punished may inhibit feelings of aggression to a greater degree in African-American males. In any case, additional research is required to assess the effects on African-American males of viewing TV aggression." (Reuters, 2007) it is suggested in this study that in studying "the possibility that processes competing with or overriding the aggression stimulating or aggression modeling effects of viewing violence on television may be more salient for African-American males." For example, viewing TV shows where violent behavior is punished may inhibit feelings of aggression to a greater degree in African-American males. In any case, additional research is required to assess the effects on African-American males of viewing TV aggression." (Reuters, 2007)