Children's Television Behaviour: Its Antecedents and Relationship to School Performance. A Study of the Television Viewing Behaviour of Children in Grade 6 of State Primary Schools in the Metropolitan Area of Melbourne. Occasional Paper No. 14.

A study was conducted to describe the television viewing habits of grade 6 children in primary schools within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia; to examine the nature of the relationships between factors found to be relevant in explaining television behavior; and to examine the relationship between television behavior and school achievement. Data were collected from a 2-stage cluster sample of 271 grade 6 children using a questionnaire; tests of intelligence, self-esteem, and comprehension in social studies; and a diary of television viewing over a period of seven days. A questionnaire was also completed by the subjects' teachers. Statistical analyses involved simple descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses, and canonical analysis. The hypothesizing and subsequent testing of causal path models of the interrelationships between variables enabled the study to cope more efficiently with the complex interrelationships between variables. Results confirmed the important influence that television has on the lives of children, and the importance of home background variables and personal characteristics in influencing television viewing patterns. (Author/CMV)