DO ELECTRONIC GAMES PREDICT CHILDRENS PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based upon material published in the Archives of Disorders in Children and is available as an open access article. ABSTRACT Background Screen entertainment for young children has been associated with several aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Most research is from North America and focuses on television. Few longitudinal studies have compared the effects of TV and electronic games, or have investigated gender differences. Purpose: To explore how time watching TV and playing electronic games at age 5 years each predicts change in psychosocial adjustment in a representative sample of 7 year-olds from the UK. Methods Typical daily hours viewing television and playing electronic games at age 5 years were reported by mothers of 11 014 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Conduct problems, emotional symptoms, peer relationship problems, hyperactivity/inattention and prosocial behaviour were reported by mothers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Change in adjustment from age 5 years to 7 years was regressed on screen exposures; adjusting for family characteristics and functioning, and child characteristics. Results Watching TV for 3 h or more at 5 years predicted a 0.13 point increase (95 percent CI 0.03 to 0.24) in conduct problems by 7 years, compared with watching for under an hour, but playing electronic games was not associated with conduct problems. No associations were found between either type of screen time and emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems or prosocial behaviour. There was no evidence of gender differences in the effect of screen time. Conclusions TV but not electronic games predicted a small increase in conduct problems. Screen time did not predict other aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Further work is required to establish causal mechanisms. This course on psychosocial adjustment in children is suitable for clinical social workers and psychologists, nurses, and professional counselors who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop their understanding of the relationship between television and electronic games and psychosocial adjustment in children. The course is a research report and as such contains statistical analysis and data which some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. Authors: Parkes, Sweeting and Wright et al. Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding the relationship between TV and electronic games and psychosocial adjustment in children. Specifically, a professional will: •Describe how time spent watching TV predicts change in psychosocial adjustment. •Identify the impact of electronic games on psychosocial adjustment. •Identify long term impact of TV and electronic games on young children. Citation: Parkes A, Sweeting H, Wight D, et al. (2013). Do television and electronic games predict children’s psychosocial adjustment? Longitudinal research using the UK Millennium Cohort Study Arch Dis Child; 98:341–348. Visit us online for a full year of unlimited online CEUs.