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Published on: March 14, 2018
Association between television viewing and self-esteem in children
Sze Pui Pamela Tin1, Daniel Sai Yin Ho, Kwok Hang Mak
1School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong SAR, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Summary
Excessive television viewing is linked to lower self-esteem in children. Moderate TV watching may positively impact general, social, and parent-related self-esteem but negatively affect academic self-esteem.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Mental Health
- Media Effects Research
Background:
- Limited research exists on the impact of excessive television (TV) viewing on specific mental health outcomes like self-esteem in young children.
- Understanding the relationship between TV habits and self-esteem is crucial for child development and well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cross-sectional association between daily television viewing hours and self-esteem levels in primary school-aged children.
- To analyze how different amounts of TV viewing correlate with various facets of self-esteem, including general, social, parent-related, and academic domains.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 70,210 primary 4 students in Hong Kong (1998-2000) who reported their TV viewing hours via questionnaire.
- Assessed self-esteem using the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventories for Children (SEI), measuring four distinct subscales.
- Employed multivariate linear regression, adjusting for covariates like age, sex, BMI, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status, to determine associations.
Main Results:
- A significant inverted J-shaped relationship was observed between TV viewing hours and overall self-esteem.
- Children watching 1 to 2 hours of TV daily showed higher General, Social, and Parent-Related SEI scores but lower Academic SEI scores compared to those watching <1 hour.
- Viewing more than 2 hours of TV daily was associated with lower SEI scores across all four subscales compared to watching <1 hour.
Conclusions:
- The study indicates a complex, non-linear relationship between television viewing duration and children's self-esteem.
- Further research is recommended to explore the developmental trajectories of self-esteem in children with both low and excessive TV viewing habits.
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