Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs
Published on: October 13, 2017
Parental Influences on Preschoolers' TV Viewing Time: Mediation Analyses on Australian and Belgian Data
Ellen De Decker1, Kylie Hesketh, Marieke De Craemer
1Dept of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Background:
Television viewing is highly prevalent in preschoolers (3-5 years). Because of the adverse health outcomes related to this behavior, it is important to investigate associations and mediators of young children's television viewing time. This study investigated whether parental rules regarding television viewing time and parental concerns about screen viewing activities mediated the association between parents' and preschoolers' television viewing time.
Methods:
Mediation analyses were performed with the product-of-coefficient test on data derived from the Australian HAPPY study (n = 947) and the Belgian sample of the ToyBox-study (n = 1527). Parents reported their own and their child's television viewing time, their rules regarding television viewing and concerns about their child's screen viewing activities.
Results:
Parents' television viewing time was directly associated with preschoolers' television viewing time and parental rule for television viewing time mediated this association in both samples (14.4% and 8.1% in the Australian and Belgian samples, respectively).
Conclusions:
This study is unique in examining the mediating pathway of parental television viewing and a rule limiting TV viewing time and whether this is consistent in different samples. Due to the consistent importance, both parents' television viewing time and rules should be targeted in interventions to decrease preschoolers' television viewing time.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Parenting Styles
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Group Design

