TV-glued children become angry adults

A research group involved in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study  has been able to demonstrate that children and adolescents who watch a lot of television portray more antisocial and criminal behaviour in adulthood.

The research data was obtained by an observation of 1000 children, between ages of 5 and 15, born in Dunedin in 1972-73. These children were asked about their interaction with television and they found out that children who watched more television were more likely to have a criminal conviction and antisocial personality traits in adulthood.

Their results suggest that children who watch more television are prone to experiencing negative emotions, aggressive personality traits and have a higher risk of antisocial personality disorder when they become adults.

Similar studies associated with the relationship between television contents of children and their future behavioural pattern were demonstrated by Associate Professor Bob Hancox of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago;  his group found that the risk of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood increased by about 30% with every hour that children spent watching TV on an average weeknight.

Even though television viewing by children may not be the only factor that leads to anti-social behaviour; reducing it could lower anti-social behaviour, which clearly is a societal problem. Therefore, these findings have strengthened the recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics that children should watch no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality television programming each day and parents are advised to limit their children’s television use.