Television and Child Development

Television continues to play a major role in the lives of most children and adolescents, but current research also reflects the explosive growth in new technologies and their widespread use by young people. Integrating information from communication literature as well as from child development and other psychological domains, author Judith Van Evra presents a summary and synthesis of what is currently known about the media’s impact on children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development, to help discern the complex and significant interplay between other forces in a child’s life and the use of various media.

This third edition contains updated and expanded coverage of research findings and a review of changing trends in media use including computers, the Internet, books and magazines, music videos, and video games as well as television. New chapters focus on basic research designs and methodologies; cultural diversity; health-related matters and lifestyle choices; media’s impact on various social-emotional aspects of a child’s development; the use of technology for information and for entertainment; and intervention possibilities, parent strategies, and education. An overall conclusions section at the end of the book provides a cogent summary of findings to date and stimulates discussion of questions and ideas for future research.

Television and Child Development explores how, and to what extent, television and other media actually affect children, and what role other variables may play in mediating their impact, so that we can maximize technology’s potential for enriching children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development, while at the same time minimizing any negative influence. This text is appropriate for researchers, teachers, and students in communications, developmental and social psychology, and education, as well as in areas of advertising, leisure studies, family studies, and health promotion.