The Interactions of Media Use, Obesity, and Suboptimal Health Status: A Nationwide Time-Trend Study in China

Obesity and suboptimal health status (SHS) have been global public health concerns in recent decades. A growing number of works have explored the relationships between media use and obesity, as well as SHS. This study aimed to examine the time trend of the associations between media use (including traditional media and new media) and obesity, as well as SHS. The data were derived from three national random samples of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), which was separately conducted in 2013, 2015, and 2017. In total, 34,468 respondents were included in this study, consisting of 16,624 males and 17,844 females, and the average age was 49.95 years old (SD = 16.72). It found that broadcast use and television use were positively associated with obesity and showed an increasing trend over time. Cellphone use emerged as a risk factor for obesity in 2017 and showed an increasing trend. By contrast, newspaper use, television use, and internet use were negatively associated with SHS, and television use showed a decreasing trend in the association with SHS, while internet and newspaper use showed an increasing trend. In conclusion, media use was positively associated with obesity while negatively associated with SHS. It showed a decreasing trend in the associations between traditional media use and obesity, while revealing an increasing trend in the associations between new media use and obesity, as well as SHS. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Developmental Associations Between Media Use and Adolescent Prosocial Behavior

Youth today spend a tremendous amount of time with digital media. The purpose of the present study was to estimate developmental associations between screen media use between the ages of 15 and 17 and corresponding changes in prosocial behavior. Participants ( N = 1,509) were part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, a population-based study of children born in the province of Quebec, Canada. Youth self-reported internet and video game use and television or movies/DVD viewing, as well as prosocial behavior at the ages of 15 and 17. Analyses were conducted using multilevel linear modelling to account for between-, within-, and lagged-person effects. Internet and video game use accounted for less prosocial behavior at the within-person and lagged-person levels. Television use also accounted for lagged-person effects in prosocial behavior. Finally, internet use and television viewing contributed to between person differences in prosocial behavior. Our study presents strong statistical evidence that media use during adolescence can undermine the development of prosocial behavior.

Who Benefit from What Media? Examining Knowledge Gap Hypothesis on Environmental Knowledge In China

Environmental knowledge inequality is a barrier to address environmental issues. This study explores the role of media use in environmental knowledge gap in China, and the empirical evidence is analyzed by using the secondary data from Chinese General Social Survey. OLS regression and heterogeneity analysis revealed that internet use increases environmental knowledge gap; radio use reduces environmental knowledge gap between people with higher and lower levels of education. Newspaper and television use have limited influence on environmental knowledge acquisition. However, newspapers and television are more beneficial for people with lower levels of education, but not those with higher levels.

Who Benefit from What Media? Examining Knowledge Gap Hypothesis on Environmental Knowledge In China

Environmental knowledge inequality is a barrier to address environmental issues. This study explores the role of media use in environmental knowledge gap in China, and the empirical evidence is analyzed by using the secondary data from Chinese General Social Survey. OLS regression and heterogeneity analysis revealed that internet use increases environmental knowledge gap; radio use reduces environmental knowledge gap between people with higher and lower levels of education. Newspaper and television use have limited influence on environmental knowledge acquisition. However, newspapers and television are more beneficial for people with lower levels of education, but not those with higher levels.

YouTube Preferences and Practices of Preadolescents: Findings From a Study Carried Out in Catalonia

Recent data confirm the central role that YouTube plays in the media life of young people in the west, and especially in the media practices of adolescents and preadolescents. This article presents a study on tweens’ YouTube preferences and media practices. The study was based on the uses and gratification theory and applied a quantitative-qualitative approach: a questionnaire was administered to 1,406 preadolescents (x = 12, 11 years-old) from 41 secondary schools, and three focus groups with six participants (three girls and three boys) each were carried out in three schools. The results reveal that the tweens participating in the study consider YouTube as a social media and a video catalogue. They especially like YouTube’s content, in particular entertainment (music and humour) and self-learning (tutorials); however, they generally dislike its interactive functions (e.g., sharing and commenting). Moreover, their media practices on YouTube reveal that tweens incorporate YouTube into their everyday media life within other social media, although they use it predominantly to consume media content in a “traditional”/“non-interactive” way, similar to traditional television use. Despite this they do not consider it as a “new” television. Finally, tweens in our study use YouTube especially for entertainment, and, on a second level, for self-learning and socialising functions. Further studies need to be carried out to go deeper into the prosumption possibilities for tweens’ both on YouTube and other social media.

Adolescent Vision Health During the Outbreak of COVID-19: Association Between Digital Screen Use and Myopia Progression

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted education systems globally, making digital devices common arrangements for adolescent learning. However, vision consequences of such behavioral changes are not well-understood. This study investigates the association between duration of daily digital screen engagement and myopic progression among 3,831 Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study subjects report an average of 2.70 (SD = 1.77), 3.88 (SD = 2.23), 3.58 (SD = 2.30), and 3.42 (SD = 2.49) hours of television, computer, and smartphone for digital learning use at home, respectively. Researchers analyzed the association between digital screen use and myopic symptoms using statistical tools, and find that every 1 h increase in daily digital screen use is associated with 1.26 OR [Odds Ratio] (95% CI [Confidence Interval: 1.21–1.31, p < 0.001]) higher risks of myopic progression. Using computers (OR = 1.813, 95% CI = 1.05–3.12, p = 0.032) and using smartphones (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.19–3.43, p = 0.009) are shown to be associated with higher risks of myopic progression than television use. Results from additional sensitivity tests that included inverse probability weights which accounted for heterogeneous user profile across different device type categories confirm that these findings are robust. In conclusion, this study finds that daily digital screen use is positively associated with prevalence of myopic progression and holds serious vision health implications for adolescents.

Media Use and Men’s Approval of Intimate Partner Violence in Honduras

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread issue that affects millions of individuals each year. Prior research suggests that IPV approval is associated with an increased likelihood of IPV perpetration. However, scant research has examined predictors of IPV approval, and even less has examined the predictors of IPV approval in Latin America. Social cognitive theory describes the acquisition of ideas, values, attitudes, and behaviors through social observation, including through media. This study uses social cognitive theory to examine the effects of media use on men’s approval of IPV in Honduras, while controlling for demographic variables and IPV risk factors. We hypothesized that greater engagement with media (via television, radio, and newspapers or magazines) would be associated with decreases in the approval of IPV. Using ordinal logistic regression, we analyzed data from the Men’s Survey Module of the 2011–2012 Honduras Demographic and Health Survey. The final sample included 4,760 currently partnered men. Results suggest that listening to the radio one or more times per week was associated with greater IPV approval, while newspaper/magazine and television use were not significantly associated with IPV approval. Education, marital status, increased age at first cohabitation, and having a female partner or someone else making decisions about earnings were all protective against IPV approval. Further investigation into the content of Honduran radio and other media is called for in order to inform interventions to reduce acceptance of IPV.

MEDIA USE AND HAPPINESS IN SERBIA

The Annual Attitude Examination Survey consisting of 366 questions was deployed on nationally representative sample in Serbia to get 2608 responses on the Oxford Happiness Inventory and Multiple Lickert scale questions concerning attitudes, fears, media use and closeness of different social categories to the participants. Research results confirm all hypotheses. Quantity of television use is negatively correlated to happiness. As for the quality of newspapers use, those consuming contents such as culture, sports and IT are happier than others. When looking at television use, individuals that prefer programs such as cartoons, culture, music, fashion, science, IT and sports are happier than others. This is the first research examining relationship of happiness and quality of media use. Future research should encompass data from online social networks in order to see how positive and negative emotions of media users are related to media content they are exposed to.