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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #297688
Title: Conceptual understanding of screen media parenting: Report of a working group

Author
item O'CONNOR, TERESIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item HINGLE, MELANIE - University Of Arizona
item CHUANG, RU-JYE - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item GORELY, TRISH - University Of Stirling
item HINKLEY, TRINA - Deakin University
item JAGO, RUSSELL - University Of Bristol
item LANIGAN, JANE - Washington State University
item PEARSON, NATALIE - Loughborough University
item THOMPSON, DARCY - University Of Colorado

Submitted to: Childhood Obesity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2013
Publication Date: 8/1/2013
Citation: O'Connor, T.M., Hingle, M., Chuang, R., Gorely, T., Hinkley, T., Jago, R., Lanigan, J., Pearson, N., Thompson, D.A. 2013. Conceptual understanding of screen media parenting: Report of a working group. Childhood Obesity. 9(Suppl 1):S110-S118.

Interpretive Summary: Scientists at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine held a preconference to the 2013 annual meeting of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, entitled "Parenting Measurement: Current Status and Consensus Reports", to identify and prioritize issues in assessing parenting. This article summarizes the findings from the working group tasked to assess the current status of screen media parenting. Given that screen media parenting research has just recently become an area of interest, a new conceptual model was proposed. A research agenda was suggested to help enhance how researchers measure screen media parenting in the future.

Technical Abstract: Screen media (television, computers, and videogames) use has been linked to multiple child outcomes, including obesity. Parents can be an important influence on children's screen use. There has been an increase in the number of instruments available to assess parenting in feeding and physical activity contexts; however, few measures are available to assess parenting practices regarding children's screen media use. A working group of screen media and parenting researchers convened at the preconference workshop to the 2012 International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) annual meeting, "Parenting Measurement: Current Status and Consensus Reports," to identify and prioritize issues in assessing screen media parenting practices. The group identified that screen media use can pose different risks for children, depending on their age and developmental stage, across physiologic, psychosocial, and development outcomes. With that in mind, a conceptual framework of how parents may influence their child's screen-viewing behaviors was proposed to include the screen media content, context of viewing, and amount viewed. A research agenda was proposed to prioritize a validation of the framework and enhance the ability of researchers to best assess parenting influences across the three domains of content, context, and amount of children's screen media use.