A novel content analysis framework for investigating young children’s television diets: results of a UK-based television content analysis

ABSTRACT

Screen time is increasingly pervasive in children’s lives and, despite shifts in screen usage, television remains pre-eminent, especially for young children. As such, viewing content merits investigation. The current study applied a novel coding scheme to assess the relative prominence of prosocial and antisocial content in 90 programmes watched by a sample of 180 British two-year-old children. As well as providing a framework for future use in television research, our study highlights the wide variance of prosociality in children’s programming. Future directions for coding and research are discussed.

IMPACT SUMMARY

a. Prior State of Knowledge: Children’s television content has been under scrutiny for decades. Studies involving researcher-chosen content have shown links between prosocial content and young children’s prosocial behaviour, as well as between antisocial content and aggressive behaviour.

b. Novel contributions:

The current methodological brief outlines a novel coding scheme for investigating prosocial and antisocial content that young children view in their everyday lives, taking into account prosocial and antisocial behaviour, as well as format features of the television programmes.

c. Practical implications:

The current work can be utilized and adapted for research in diverse disciplines by investigators interested in how prosocial and antisocial content are associated with child behavioural outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Television
• toddler
• screen time
• method
• prosocial
• prosocial television content

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the families for allowing us into their lives and their homes. Support for this research was provided by Economic and Social Research Council ES/L010648/1 to Claire Hughes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Ages were not given for participants, but kindergarten through fourth grade students would typically be between four- and ten-years-old

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/L010648/1].

Notes on contributors

Gabrielle McHarg

Gabrielle McHarg (PhD, University of Cambridge) is a recent graduate whose doctoral work focused on digital media’s impacts on prosocial behaviour in toddlers. She now works as a postdoctoral research coordinator at Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development.

Alexander Worlding

Alexander Worlding (BSc, University of Bath) is a recent graduate with an interest in ASD and its impacts on child development. He currently works in education, supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Claire Hughes

Claire Hughes (PhD, University of Cambridge) is a developmental psychologist and Deputy Director of the University of Cambridge Centre for Family Research. Her studies apply longitudinal designs to investigate the interplay between children’s socio-cognitive skills and their social relationships and family environments.