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Mass media have numerous effects on children, ranging from influencing school performance to increased or reduced aggression. What we do not know, however, is how media availability in the bedroom moderates these effects. Although several researchers have suggested that bedroom media may influence outcomes by displacing other activities (the displacement hypothesis) or by changing the content of media consumed (the content hypothesis), these have rarely been tested directly. This study tested both hypotheses using several outcomes that are associated with bedroom media and some of the underlying mediating mechanisms. The hypotheses were tested using 3 longitudinal samples of varying methods, age, duration, and country. The results indicate that children who have bedroom media are likely to watch larger amounts of screen time which displaced important activities, such as reading and sleeping, which mediated later negative outcomes such as poor school performance. Bedroom media also influence risk for obesity and video game addiction. Children with bedroom media are also likely to be exposed to more media violence. The violent content increased normative beliefs about aggression, which increased physical aggression, providing support for the content hypothesis. This study demonstrates that media can have effects not just from what they show, but also because of what children are not exposed to. Bedroom media are therefore a robust risk factor for several aspects of child development.

Despite the escalating public concern about pathological use of the Internet among youth, little research has investigated the longitudinal trajectory of the problem and the role of peer support in it. This study aimed to determine the growth trajectory of pathological Internet use (PIU), identify latent subgroups presenting heterogeneous growth trajectories of PIU, and examine the initial status of and the rate of change in peer support as predictors of the growth trajectory of PIU among children and adolescents. Using four-wave longitudinal data from 3,079 Singaporean youth at ages 7–19, we performed Latent Growth Curve Modeling, Latent Class Growth Analysis and Latent Growth Mixture Modeling. Results revealed a downward trajectory of PIU among youth. We identified six latent subgroups, three of which were in pathological status for at least a year. The more rapid improvement in peer support, but not the initial level of peer support, predicted the faster reduction of PIU symptoms during the 3-year period. Findings suggest that although the symptoms of PIU among children and adolescents would decline over time, improving peer support could further alleviate youth PIU. We recommended that intervention programs include a peer support component to mitigate PIU among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim of the study was to understand the phenomenon of pathological video-gaming by identifying protective factors for its development, and examining the dynamic interplay between protective factors and pathological video-gaming within a framework of change. The study was a 2-year longitudinal study involving 3034 children and adolescents recruited from 6 elementary and 6 secondary schools. Controlling for initial levels of pathological video-gaming, personal strengths and familial factors such as parent–child connectedness, and warm family environment were found to be protective factors for later pathological gaming. Increases in levels of emotional regulation and family environment warmth were related to decreases in pathological video-gaming. Higher initial levels and increases in pathological video-gaming were related to higher levels of later depressive symptoms, controlling for earlier levels of depressive symptoms. The study adds to the growing evidence that pathological video-gaming has potentially serious mental health consequences, in particular, on depression. For health providers who work with pathological video-gamers, the findings suggest that developing self-regulatory skills such as emotional regulation, and improving the family environment are useful strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although empirical studies and media reports have suggested that a number of children and adolescents play video-gaming excessively, resulting in pathological symptoms of video-gaming, longitudinal research on parental predictors of pathological symptoms of video-gaming is inadequate. By analyzing two-wave longitudinal data from 2,974 primary and secondary school students in Singapore, we examined the main effects of parent-child closeness and parental restriction of child video-gaming on children and adolescents' pathological symptoms of video-gaming over time and five interaction terms, namely parental restriction of child video-gaming by parent-child closeness, parent-child closeness by gender, parental restriction of child video-gaming by gender, parent-child closeness by age, and parental restriction of child video-gaming by age. Analyses of random intercept models and hierarchical multiple regression models consistently revealed that higher parent-child closeness at Wave 1 had a significant main effect on the decreased number of pathological symptoms at Wave 2 while parental restriction of child video-gaming at Wave 1 had no main effect, and that the effect of parent-child closeness was significantly stronger for boys than for girls. These results imply that restrictive rules and regulations set by parents on the child's video-gaming behaviors may not be an effective way of reducing the pathological symptoms of video-gaming. Instead, they highlight the importance of the parent-child bond and possible gender differences in this predictor in assessment and preventive measures for children and adolescents presenting pathological symptoms of video-gaming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Although several longitudinal studies have demonstrated an effect of violent video game play on later aggressive behavior, little is known about the psychological mediators and moderators of the effect., Objective: To determine whether cognitive and/or emotional variables mediate the effect of violent video game play on aggression and whether the effect is moderated by age, sex, prior aggressiveness, or parental monitoring., Design, Setting, and Participants: Three-year longitudinal panel study. A total of 3034 children and adolescents from 6 primary and 6 secondary schools in Singapore (73% male) were surveyed annually. Children were eligible for inclusion if they attended one of the 12 selected schools, 3 of which were boys' schools. At the beginning of the study, participants were in third, fourth, seventh, and eighth grades, with a mean (SD) age of 11.2 (2.1) years (range, 8-17 years). Study participation was 99% in year 1., Main Outcomes and Measures: The final outcome measure was aggressive behavior, with aggressive cognitions (normative beliefs about aggression, hostile attribution bias, aggressive fantasizing) and empathy as potential mediators., Results: Longitudinal latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that the effects of violent video game play are mediated primarily by aggressive cognitions. This effect is not moderated by sex, prior aggressiveness, or parental monitoring and is only slightly moderated by age, as younger children had a larger increase in initial aggressive cognition related to initial violent game play at the beginning of the study than older children. Model fit was excellent for all models., Conclusions and Relevance: Given that more than 90% of youths play video games, understanding the psychological mechanisms by which they can influence behaviors is important for parents and pediatricians and for designing interventions to enhance or mitigate the effects.

Introduction: Increase in internet use and video-gaming contributes to public concern on pathological or obsessive play of video games among children and adolescents worldwide. Nevertheless, little is known about the prevalence of pathological symptoms in video-gaming among Singaporean youth and the psychometric properties of instruments measuring pathological symptoms in video-gaming., Materials and Methods: A total of 2998 children and adolescents from 6 primary and 6 secondary schools in Singapore responded to a comprehensive survey questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, video-gaming habits, school performance, somatic symptoms, various psychological traits, social functioning and pathological symptoms of video-gaming. After weighting, the survey data were analysed to determine the prevalence of pathological video-gaming among Singaporean youth and gender differences in the prevalence. The construct validity of instrument used to measure pathological symptoms of video-gaming was tested., Results: Of all the study participants, 8.7% were classified as pathological players with more boys reporting more pathological symptoms than girls. All variables, including impulse control problem, social competence, hostility, academic performance, and damages to social functioning, tested for construct validity, were significantly associated with pathological status, providing good evidence for the construct validity of the instrument used., Conclusion: The prevalence rate of pathological video-gaming among Singaporean youth is comparable with that from other countries studied thus far, and gender differences are also consistent with the findings of prior research. The positive evidence of construct validity supports the potential use of the instrument for future research and clinical screening on Singapore children and adolescents' pathological video-gaming.