TY - JOUR

T1 - Links between television exposure and toddler dysregulation

T2 - Does culture matter?

AU - Desmarais, Eric

AU - Brown, Kara

AU - Campbell, Kaitlyn

AU - French, Brian F.

AU - Putnam, Samuel P.

AU - Casalin, Sara

AU - Linhares, Maria Beatriz Martins

AU - Lecannelier, Felipe

AU - Wang, Zhengyan

AU - Raikkonen, Katri

AU - Heinonen, Kati

AU - Tuovinen, Soile

AU - Montirosso, Rosario

AU - Provenzi, Livio

AU - Park, Seong Yeon

AU - Han, Sae Young

AU - Lee, Eun Gyoung

AU - Huitron, Blanca

AU - de Weerth, Carolina

AU - Beijers, Roseriet

AU - Majdandžić, Mirjana

AU - Benga, Oana

AU - Slobodskaya, Helena

AU - Kozlova, Elena

AU - Gonzalez-Salinas, Carmen

AU - Acar, Ibrahim

AU - Ahmetoglu, Emine

AU - Gartstein, Maria A.

N1 - Funding Information: We acknowledge the contribution of all participating families who made this work possible and are grateful for the funding provided by the WSU College of Arts and Sciences 2014 Berry Family Faculty Excellence Award to Maria A. Gartstein. The contribution of Rosario Montirosso was partially supported by Italian Ministry of Health, Ricerca Corrente 2014-2015 . Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.

AB - Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.

KW - Dysregulation

KW - Early childhood

KW - Television exposure

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104308679&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101557

DO - 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101557

M3 - Article

C2 - 33878597

AN - SCOPUS:85104308679

VL - 63

JO - Infant Behavior and Development

JF - Infant Behavior and Development

SN - 0163-6383

M1 - 101557

ER -