Heavy TV Viewing Linked To Psychological Trauma

"These children are at high risk for having a serious problem and should be assessed by a mental health professional," cautions Mark I. Singer, a professor of social work at Case Western Reserve University.

Nearly one-fourth of the boys and one-fifth of the girls watch more than six hours of television daily, he reports.

The findings do not indicate a causal connection between heavy television viewing and psychological trauma, but rather a correlation that may be partly due to "self selection," Singer says. "Television is a great way to numb out, to escape," he explains. "Kids who have pre-existing depression or anxiety can literally numb themselves and make problems go away temporarily by watching large amounts of television."

However, other studies have found that long hours of passive TV viewing ultimately increase levels of psychological trauma, he adds. "When you watch hours and hours of television, it doesn't lift your depression," he says. "It makes it even worse."

The researchers found significant correlations between program preferences and levels of anger and aggression.

"Both boys and girls who preferred shows with lots of action and fighting -- the high-violence programs -- had significantly higher anger scores compared to other students," Singer says. "They also reported more aggression towards others."

Children who are not closely monitored watch significantly more television than those who are, and more of them prefer shows with lots of action and fighting or music video shows. "For example, 58 percent of the girls who report low parental monitoring preferred violent TV or music video television, while half as many, or 29 percent, of the highly monitored girls preferred such shows," Singer says.

The 2,244 youngsters in the study were third through eighth grade students in 11 schools, found in rural, urban, and small city locations. Their ethnic classifications were 57 percent white, 33 percent African-American, 5 percent Hispanic and 9 percent other.

Less than 1 percent do not have a television, while 70 percent have TV with cable or a satellite dish. Fifty-five percent have cable with movie channels or a satellite dish. Based on other surveys, Singer notes, "Violent program content is related to the type of hook-up you have." On premium cable stations, 85 percent of programs contain violence, compared to 59 percent of programs on basic cable, and 44 percent of programs on broadcast networks, he says.

As with Singer's earlier study of 3,700 high school students, the researchers also studied the children's exposure to violence (either as victims, witnesses or perpetrators) and the correlation of this exposure to psychological trauma levels.